The Tall and Short of It
by Rayne-kun
Summary: For Ed's whole life, he's never been attracted to anyone. No girl or boy has ever caught his attention... Until his school gets a new headmaster by the name of Roy Mustang. [RoyEd, yaoi, onesided RussellEd, EnvyRussel don't ask, AU]
1. First Impressions

Disclaimer: I do not own FMA. Um, this is another one of those crazy AU school fics, there's yaoi (mostly RoyEd), and scattered language. Consider yourself warned.

Chapter One: First Impressions

Edward had no interest in dating, no interest in relationships or kissing, and the very thought of sex never even crossed his mind.

This had scared him shitless for quite some time. Here he was, a 17-year-old senior, and he had never, ever felt attracted to someone. His friends had all had multiple boy or girlfriends over the years, and even his younger brother had had a crush on a girl for quite some time. This had to be some sort of weird hormonal disorder.

When he had told his brother a year ago, Al's first theory had been that Edward just hadn't met the right girl. Ed had said that Winry should have been perfect. She was smart, funny, and cute, if a bit abusive. There had even been talk of marriage when they were children. However, he felt nothing for her other than a deep friendship. The theory was dismissed.

Al's second theory was that Edward was gay. The brothers were by no means ignorant of this lifestyle, seeing as one of Edward's close friends had been openly gay for a while, and had something of a crush on Ed. However, Ed crushed this theory by repeating himself. He'd never been attracted to _anyone_, female _or_ male.

Then came the experimenting. Alphonse had decided that the only way to see if Ed was gay or straight was to kiss a member of each gender and see which he felt more pleasurable. Of course, they'd need two people who wouldn't mind being kissed by him.

Winry had been first. She had snickered about Ed's dilemma, then agreed readily to help him with his "experimenting". Anything for friends and family, she said, even if it was a little weird. Ed had replied that saying he was family made it even weirder. So, when they were alone, Ed kissed her. Nothing. Merely two pairs of lips upon each other. There wasn't any magic at all. Winry had pulled away and looked at him questioningly. He had shook his head and she sighed. Not attracted to girls, then, on to boys.

If there was one thing that Russell Tringham was happy to do, it was kiss Edward Elric. Russ had come to terms with his sexuality when he was 13, when he figured out that he was attracted to his best friend and not to any of the girls. Ed had politely turned him down, and Russell had gone on with his life. This was not to say that Russ never had anyone else, but he had never quite gotten over the blond beauty that was Edward. So when one day, out of the blue, he was asked to kiss Ed, he readily accepted. This was his chance. He could finally win Ed over and make him his. Russ had agreed to make it just a chaste one, no tongue, as Ed had insisted. He had brought his lips to Edward's, breathing in his scent, before pressing them together, fighting the burning desire to make Ed gasp, moan, and call out his name. It was rather a pathetic kiss, but he was afraid that Ed would be mad at him if he let it go too far. However, Edward pulled away, and shook his head, smiling sadly. "Sorry, Russ," he had said.

This brought along Al's third and final theory: Edward was completely asexual. He was destined to live a life of loneliness and sorrow.

No, Edward wasn't interested in relationships or sex. That was, until Roy Mustang entered the picture.

/-\

"Welcome back to another year of education at Flamel Academy. This is the most important year of your entire high school experience. Not only are you seniors setting examples for all the lowerclassmen, you are preparing for the next step: college. What you do this year will determine your entire future, be it in science, mathematics, language, mechanics, art, or anything else."

Edward disliked the teacher immediately. Professor Hawkeye looked like the kind of teacher that would do nothing but teach. She would talk at the students, not to them. She seemed very stern and strict, the type that would give you a detention if you were late. Wonderful. At least she'd never pick on him for shortness… Arg! No! He wasn't short, dammit! Just… height-challenged… He sat up straighter in his desk, trying to make him seem as tall as the other students. Russ kicked his leg, mouthing, "Pay attention!"

Ed rolled his eyes and mouthed back "It's just a welcome speech," but looked back up at Professor Hawkeye anyway. She seemed to be in the middle of the 'additions to the academy' part of the sermon.

"—An addition has been built onto the music department, and several private instrumental and voice teachers added to its staff. For more information on this, see the head of the musical department, Professor Curtis. Also, more options have been opened in the cafeteria; there is now a full pasta bar and more sandwich choices."

Edward began to doodle in his textbook. These speeches were so pointless…

"More rules have been instated in order to assure your safety. Students are no longer allowed to carry scissors. After the incident with that poor freshman girl, the staff has decided to provide a pair for each student if they are ever needed, which they rarely are outside of the art department, so this shouldn't be a problem. And finally, and most important of all—"

A soft knock on the door interrupted the teacher's speech. "That must be him now… Come in."

Ed finished his doodle of a strange symbol; it seemed like something he had seen in a dream once… It was a sort of cross with a snake slithering on it, with a crown with wings resting upon the top. Ed laughed inwardly at it. What a bizarre drawing. Russell again interrupted his thoughts, but this time with barely audible words.

"Oh my god, sex just walked through the door."

Edward looked up out of curiosity at the man in the doorway. His breath caught.

He was tall; must have been nearly six feet. Edward probably only came up to his chin. Black hair fell loosely on his head and Ed had the bizarre urge to run his fingers through it. He was extremely pale, so much so that it looked almost unhealthy. But what really struck Ed were his eyes, those narrow ebony eyes. Edward felt as if he could get lost in their depths. He realized his heart was beating faster. What the hell? Why would it do that? … Was it just him, or was it getting awfully hot in that room?

He then realized that Hawkeye was still talking and reluctantly tore his attention away from the man.

"–As a result of this, Headmaster Bradley resigned. I now present to you Headmaster Roy Mustang. Headmaster, would you like to say anything?"

"Yes, Riza, I believe I would." The man stepped forward and strode to the front of the room, where he stood for a moment, seeming to bask in his own importance. "I realize that I am the youngest headmaster Flamel Academy has ever seen. Frankly, I hate the title 'Headmaster'; it makes me feel old. For the record, 32 is _not_ old. However, my age does not mean that I will be any less strict with you students. If any one of you does something against the school code, I will not be forgiving. I am the most important person in this school, and you'd best remember that. Just treat me as you would treat our departed Headmaster Bradley. That is all."

He turned to leave before pausing to stare directly at Edward. The blond blushed lightly and shrank in his chair.

"This is a senior class, isn't it, Riza?"

"Yes, Headmaster."

"Is that blond one really 17?"

"Yes, Headmaster."

Mustang chuckled. "What a shrimp! I can barely see over his textbooks! Riza, perhaps you should move him to the front?"

Ed went scarlet. "JUST _WHO_ ARE YOU CALLING SO TINY, HE COULD PROBABLY JUGGLE ATOMS?"

Edward panted for a second before realizing; He was standing in his seat, finger in the air pointing directly at the headmaster, and the eyes of every person in the room were on him. His outbursts had become fairly commonplace for most of the students, but not all of them.

"Umm…" Edward murmured as he sat back down.

Mustang raised an eyebrow and smirked. Ed tried to think of all the ways that he could have made a worst first impression on his new headmaster and professor. Not many came to mind.

"What's your name, kid?"

"Edward Elric," he mumbled, staring intently at his desk. "And I'm not a kid."

"Well Edward Elric, you seem like a really bizarre kid. So bizarre, that I think I'd like to learn more about you. Which I have the feeling I'll get to do a lot in detention this Wednesday. See you in my office after school! Now, no more talking back to your superiors. If I say you're short, you're short, got it?"

Ed sat staring with his mouth agape. Who the hell did this guy think he was? Just because Ed exploded did not give that asshole the right to put him in detention! What kind of fucked up logic was that?

"Got it?" Mustang repeated.

"Yes, sir," Ed replied, glaring into those narrow eyes.

Mustang smirked and left the room.

"Now, in this class you will be learning…"

What the FUCK was THAT all about? Moreover, why didn't anyone seem to care? Russ had to, at least. Ed looked to his best friend, surprised to see him scribbling furiously away on some piece of parchment. Passing notes already, Russ? That was fast. Russell stopped writing and wadded the paper up. When the teacher looked down for a second, Russ handed the note to Ed.

_Ed, was that not the hottest guy on this planet! Well you wouldn't know with your condition, but STILL! You are so lucky he actually noticed you! And you get to see him on Wednesday too! LUCKY! Russ_

Condition, huh? Ed rolled his eyes. Ever since they had discovered that he was apparently asexual, Russ had started treating it like some sort of disease.

_Like hell I'm lucky! He gave me detention, or did you forget that? He was the one that called me short, he should be punished, not me! And he's not that good-looking… Ed_

That was a downright lie, and Ed knew it. However, he was more than a little confused right now about what his thoughts on this new headmaster.

_Not good looking? Ed, just what ARE you smoking? That was the sexiest thing on two legs! Your condition doesn't stop you from seeing that, does it? Russ_

"Elric, Tringham, it's the first day of class, so I'm going to let you off with a warning. Don't pass notes in my class or the punishments will be severe. Mr. Elric, you wouldn't want multiple detentions on your first day, would you?"

"No, Professor."

"Then please behave for the remainder of this year. You too, Tringham."

"Yes, Professor," they replied simultaneously.

-.-.-.-

Roy sat back in his desk with a sigh. Talking to all those students had made his throat so damn raw... But it was important to him that he tell all the students just who was in charge. And he didn't want to make one of those ridiculous assemblies; only half of the students ever actually listened. This way they all HAD to pay attention to him, otherwise he'd give them detention.

Roy smirked. A couple of hours into the year, and he'd already given out 3 of them. One of them had fallen asleep during his speech. The effrontery of that boy... He almost wished he could have smacked him silly. The girl had been chewing gum. Like she honestly thought he wouldn't notice. Not a very bright girl. How had she gotten into the academy, anyway? He mentally chided himself. Now now, it wasn't nice to judge people by first impressions alone...

And the other one... what a character he had been. All Roy had done was call him a shrimp... you would have thought he'd be used to it, considering his height. He had been... intriguing. What kind of boy would stand up to the headmaster of the academy! He admired the boy's courage, if not his sanity. Juggling atoms? Who the hell said anything about that?

A knock on the door roused him from his thoughts. "Come in."

"Hey Headmaster, I was just wondering..." Professor Havoc wandered in through the door, holding up a small white stick. "You got a light?"

Roy stared at the professor in utter disbelief. He had the gall to ask the _Headmaster_ for a _light_? "Professor, you realize we are on school grounds?"

"Yeah?"

"And you realize that school is not yet over? And that just because it's your period off does not mean the students are gone?"

"Yeah, so?"

"Well then, dear god, man, what the hell are you thinking? These are impressionable children that still think smoking will make them cool and popular! And I am the headmaster of this school, bound to enforce the rules that there is absolutely, positively no smoking on the premises!"

Havoc stared blankly. "So, you got a light?"

"Yeah, here," Roy pulled a lighter from his desk drawer, handing it to the professor.

After taking a drag from his cigarette, Havoc began, "So... I heard tell from my lady friend that in the few months you've been here you've… gotten around."

"I've had my share. What can I say, they like a guy like me."

A long silence. Havoc seemed to be puzzling out exactly what he would say next. After a few minutes or so, "How exactly… does someone become… a guy like you?"

Roy snickered. "Let me guess. Your girlfriend came home one day, talking about this handsome man she'd met somewhere. Then, a few days later, she said that you just weren't good enough for her and dumped you. Am I right?"

Havoc raised an eyebrow. "So it's happened before?"

Laughing, Roy replied, "I couldn't count the times… So, out of curiosity, which one was she?"

Havoc looked mildly offended, but then answered, "Lucille. Kind of short, blond, mid-twenties."

"And now you want her back."

"Yes."

"Well, I'm sorry to say, but it's not going to happen. I guess she just likes guys like me, tall, dark, and handsome; better than guys like you, middle height, blond, and decent looking. Try some other girl."

Havoc looked as if he were about to say something, but thought better of it.

"You had better get back to your class. The period ends in a few minutes."

"Yes, sir."

After hearing the door close, Roy relaxed again in his chair. Yes, this was much better... No teenagers or jealous coworkers… Just him and his thoughts. What was he thinking about before that man came in? Oh yes, the blond shrimp.

He needed to think up detentions for the three of them. He supposed the girl could scrape the gum off of desks and seats... The sleeper could do something tedious like write lines or something… And the blond one… What was his name? Elric, right? Well, Elric could clean up the plaques in his office. God knows they needed a good scrub, and this way Roy could talk to him during the detention. He felt strangely compelled by this boy. He mentally shrugged. It must have been his interest in bizarre people. He couldn't think of anything else it could possibly be.

He sighed. How had he ever let Riza convince him to take this job? There was no merit in it whatsoever. Just a bunch of snot-nosed kids and piles of paperwork. When his parents died a few years back, they gave Roy the bulk of their inheritance, leaving Roy living comfortably for quite some time. Not to mention, he had also been living off his girlfriends for so long, and it had been working well for him. They gave him tons of presents, and it's not like they ever took them back after Roy broke up with them. Yeah, that had been the life. When his old friend Hawkeye had approached him about the opening, he had laughed at her. There was no way he would get a job, what was the point?

Never underestimate the power of a woman with a gun.

And thus, he had become headmaster of the private school, Flamel Academy. He was never quite clear on exactly why they had let him in with no prior experience, but he suspected Hawkeye and Hughes (who was part of the school board) had something to do with it.

The job wasn't proving to be all that horrible, at least he could order people around. Every person in the building was under his control. It was a great feeling, being in charge… He put his feet up on his desk and leaned back in his comfortable chair. One word from him would have any teacher completely subdued, any student sent home packing. He could tell anyone anything, and then punish them for correcting him, or standing up to him. He smirked again. He had even gotten to prove it, with that blond shrimp. He frowned; that kid kept popping into his thoughts. Why was that? He shrugged it off. It's not like it mattered...

-TBC-

Alright, I can explain. Firstly: Russell. Alright, I killed his character. I stabbed it with a katana, smashed the body up with a sledgehammer, burned the remains, and scattered the ashes. I realize Russell in the series was supposed to be a solemn kid, bent on completing his dad's work… but… I needed a male character about Ed's age that could potentially be the 'gay friend', and Russ was the only one I could think of! So, yeah. Sorry, Russ fans. Also, Havoc is a little ooc, I know, he's supposed to follow Roy to the ends of the earth, but yeah… They'll get along better later… And, what else was I gonna apologize for? … I forget, but whatever it was, sorry. So yeah, review even if you hated it, flames because it's yaoi will get yelled at. Constructive critism is welcome, but note the CONSTRUCTIVE part. No "This was stupid. Your writing sucks."'s got it? Thanks for reading! XD


	2. Detentions

Ive changed the way Ed got it, but he still has the automail. Al's fine though, no giant metal body '. Oh, and some people were asking about the whole alchemy thing. No, there isn't any. Just a normal academy that happens to be called "Flamel Academy", merely the founder likes the idea of alchemy, and decided to name his school after a renowned alchemist. But no, alchemy is not a reality in this world. Well, not the kind of alchemy that's like "CLAP, BOOM!" anyways.

Chapter Two: Detentions

"Al, I think I'm sick," Ed told his younger brother as they began to get ready for bed.

"Sick? How so?"

"Well," Ed began tentatively, "Lately, I've been feeling weird. Not all the time though, just… sometimes…"

Al struggled with his pajama shirt before asking, "Which times?"

"For some crazy reason, it always seems to be when I see that bastard of a Headmaster. Like, you remember when I forgot my lunch at home, and Pinako had to bring it for me? When I went to the office to get it, I felt weird then… Not right away, just when I saw Mustang smirking at me…"

A thoughtful look appeared on Al's face, and Ed continued.

"And every time I see that bastard in the hallway… always passing me, reminding me of that detention he gave me… it was so unfair, too… Oh! And when he gave it to me in the first place…"

Al looked shocked, before slowly breaking out into a smirk. "Ed, could you describe the symptoms of this… sickness?"

"Well, I feel all hot all over, like it's suddenly 90 degrees, and my heart starts beating really quickly. Nothing seems important anymore; I seem kind of… detached from the world. Like the school could be on fire or something, and I wouldn't really care…"

"Ed, would you please describe the headmaster for me?"

"…What?"

"Describe him. His personality, his looks, whatever you want."

"Why? You saw him, right? You know what he's like…"

"I just want to hear it from your point of view."

It seemed stupid, but if Al wanted to know… "He's an utter bastard. He cares about nothing other than himself and he-"

Al interrupted, "Why don't you start with his looks?"

"Okay... Well, he's tall. Really tall. Like, somewhere around six feet, about a foot taller than me…" Glaring at his brother's smirk, he continued, "His black hair just falls everywhere. It looks like on anyone else, it'd be really messy, but on him it looks good… And his eyes… His eyes are the deepest black imaginable, like staring into a night sky, but they have all the warmth of the stars that are up there…"

The corniness almost overwhelmed Al, as he felt the urge to burst out laughing, but allowed him to carry on.

"And though he may act like a pompous jackass, it seems like he's hiding something. Some other personality that he doesn't want anyone to know about; one that's really kind and caring… But what the hell am I saying? That doesn't make any sense, does it? He's a bastard! Besides, I've only seem him a couple of times, how would I know what he's like underneath his egotistical mask?"

A very serious look gathered on Al's face. "My dear older brother… I didn't want to be the one to tell you this… It seems the disease you should have gotten years ago has finally gotten a hold of you. I never thought the day would come… Brother… you have… a crush."

Ed's eyes seemed to grow wide enough to compete with the sun for the title of Largest Spheres Around. "WHAT! You're kidding, right? Me!"

Al nodded.

"Him!"

Al nodded.

"Now!"

Al nodded.

"Why!"

"How should I know? Well, this is really going to complicate things. It figures, when you finally get a crush on someone, it just has to be the new headmaster… Why couldn't you like Winry or Russell or someone like that? Someone your own age?"

"Don't turn on me! It's not like I want to have a… on someone like him! Besides, he's an arrogant, conceited asshole, I couldn't possibly like someone like him!"

"The symptoms don't lie, Ed. You like him. Why is beyond me, but you definitely have a thing for Headmaster Mustang. And here I thought you were asexual…"

"Boys!" they heard from downstairs. "Get to sleep, you don't want to be tired in the morning!"

"Okay!" the brothers shouted simultaneously.

They crawled into their respective beds and continued the conversation in whispers.

"What should I do?"

"You know, I think it's kinda funny that you're coming to your little brother for advice on your love life."

"Oh, shut up. If you're gonna be like that, than I don't need your help."

"Okay, okay. The best thing I can think to offer is don't act on it just yet. Think about it, Ed. He's the _headmaster_. A relationship between him and a student will not go overlooked. He'll get fired, and you'd… I'm not sure what they could do to you, but it's best not to risk it. Besides, this isn't meant to offend you, but there is no reason he'd like you back. To him you're just some short blond kid."

Ed gave Al a glare for the 'short' remark, but replied, "I guess you have a point… But…"

"Ed, promise me you won't do anything stupid."

"…"

"Ed!" Al insisted.

"Alright, alright. I promise."

Ed curled up in his covers, ready to go to sleep. There was silence, then, "Ed?"

"Mm?"

"Don't tell Russell."

"What?" Ed sat up to look at his younger brother. Al had never looked so serious before.

"Don't tell Russell. It'll just hurt him."

Edward stared at Al in silence. How could he keep it a secret from his best friend? He understood that he shouldn't tell… but… Wouldn't it hurt Russell more to know that his friend was lying to him?

As if he could read minds, Al said, "It wouldn't be lying… Just not telling the truth. Trust me, Ed. Knowing that you liked someone wouldn't make him happy. He is content with you not liking anyone. That way he doesn't have to see you with someone else… But knowing you've finally grown out of this asexual thing would kill him. So please, Ed, don't tell."

"Okay… I won't… I promise," Ed said, defeated.

Two promises made to his brother… Would he be able to keep either of them?

/-\

"Hey, Ed, you wanna come hang out at my place after school today? Fletcher said he wanted to show off this new plant he found… I told him you probably wouldn't be interested in one of his plants, but he seems to really want you and Al to see it."

Ed shook his head at the older Tringham brother. "Can't, Russ; it's Wednesday."

Russell looked confused, then grinned. "Oh yeah, you have that detention from Headmaster Sexy. I'm sure that'll be fun."

"More like Headmaster Bastard. He thinks he can get away with giving me detention, eh? I'll show him…" Ed had taken to insulting the man whenever he was around Russ. Not that that was hard to do. Though he was, unfortunately, attracted to him, that didn't make the man any less of a condescending bastard. Even if he was a very, _very _good-looking condescending bastard… Ed was constantly weirded out to hear those thoughts in his head. But at least he only ever thought about the man's looks. That meant it must have been what was called 'lust', and not anything more. At least that was a relief.

"What are you gonna do? Yell at him? You'll just get another detention. Not that that'd be an entirely bad thing…"

"It's me getting these detentions, not you. Besides, he's probably not even going to be there. I'll probably just write lines or something."

Winry came to sit next to them on the grass. "Hey boys, what'cha talking about?"

Russell grinned down at her. "Just talking about the new headmaster and Ed's detention."

Winry laughed. "Figures you'd be talking about him, Russell. He really is good-looking…"

Not her too… "Winry, he's an asshole. Why am I the only one who sees that?"

"Because you're the only one that cares!" Russell exclaimed. "It's not like I want to marry him, a one-nighter would be fine with me…"

Winry and Edward blanched. "Russell!"

"What?"

The ring of the bell sounded. "Lunch break's over," Russell said. "We'd better get back to class."

/-\

Edward stood in front of the office, not wanting to turn the door handle. He stared at it as if it would bite him if he put his hand on it.

How was he going to hide his infatuation for the headmaster? What if he slipped up? Al had told him not to do anything stupid, and Ed intended not to. However, one's intentions often weren't always the outcome. Especially if you were Edward. As long as he didn't mess up, he was fine. But how could he assure that he wouldn't mess up? He was doomed. Doomed. Well, standing here wouldn't help anything. Might as well get it over with. He put his hand down, and slowly turned the handle.

Sitting in a large chair was the headmaster, head rested on his desk. He was snoring slightly, which made the blond smile softly.

_Hah! Not so high and mighty now, are you?_ he thought. _I could do anything, and you wouldn't even notice! I could just leave and not even go to this stupid thing_. But another thought rose to mind, blocking everything else out. _He looks so… angelic…_ The large window outlined his body in the dimming sunlight, making it seem to glow. Combining this with the peaceful look on the man's face made Ed's heart beat just a little bit faster.

The peaceful look changed. His brow furrowed.

"You…" the man murmured in his sleep. Ed moved closer so he could hear more. He was right up against the man's desk now. "You stupid shrimp…"

Ed's eye twitched. He brought his fist down on the desk, successfully waking the man up.

"…Elric?" he said sleepily. "What are you doing here?"

"Just who was it that you were you dreaming about, Headmaster?" The spastic twitching continued.

He raised an eyebrow. "Seafood, not that that's any of your business."

Edward immediately backed up a few steps, and put his head down so the man wouldn't see the bright blush that had formed on his face. Why had he assumed that Roy had been talking about him? He'd only just met Ed; why would he be having dreams about him? Not that that would be a bad thing… Agh! Russell's pervertedness was rubbing off on him!

"Anyway, why were you asleep? I believe that's called sleeping on the job, Headmaster?"

"And I believe that you are in detention and in no position to lecture me."

Damn. Had him there.

"Now, you will be polishing the plaques in this office using this rag and this polisher. Get to work."

"And what are you going to do, take another nap? Don't you have papers to sign or something?" Ed retorted, grabbing the aforementioned items.

"That is none of your concern. Now scrub. You should start at that end and make your way over here to the desk. And since you won't be able to reach the top ones," he smirked, "or the middle, there's a stool there for you."

He clenched his teeth to keep himself from exploding. Grumbling, Ed wandered to the far part of the office and stopped in front of the farthest plaque. It was covered in dust and looked as if it hadn't been cleaned since the day it was put up. Edward grudgingly wet the rag with the polisher and began to scrub.

Damn him for being such an asshole. Damn him for making him clean this damn thing. And DAMN him for looking so goddamn hot! Sitting in his desk, staring out the window like that with that bored expression on his face… He was probably doing it on purpose…

-.-.-

Roy glanced away from the window to look at Elric. He was surprised to find that the boy was staring intently at him. Raising an eyebrow, he said, "What?"

The boy quickly looked back at the plaque he was scrubbing. "Nothing…"

"So kid, your name is Edward, right? Edward Elric?"

"I told you, I'm not a kid. I'm 17, going to be 18 in 2 months. That's a legal adult, you know."

Roy propped his head up in his hands and gazed at the boy who was now glaring at him with those piercing golden eyes. "Awfully short for an adult, aren't you? They could probably make money off of you in the circus. 'Come and see the amazing hot-tempered shrimp!' I can see it now…"

"Fucking arrogant asshole…" he heard the boy mutter.

"What was that?"

"I _said_, you're a fucking arrogant asshole! Just who do you think you are? Just because you have power in this school doesn't mean you can just sit there insulting my height!"

"Or lack thereof."

Edward screamed out in frustration. "Why are you doing this to me? What did I ever do to you?"

"Now, now, I'm not torturing you, Elric. You just spoke out when you shouldn't have, and now you're in detention for it. I think I'll also give you another one for the 'fucking arrogant asshole' remark. So I'll be seeing you again next week."

The blond wisely stayed silent.

"I don't see you cleaning, Elric. Or would you rather I called you Edward?"

"Whatever." Edward said, resuming his cleaning.

"I said I'd like to get to know you, Edward; do you remember that? So, what's your story?"

"I just don't like people mentioning my height, that's all," the boy said, carefully cleaning the old plaque.

Roy stood up, causing the blond to look at him questioningly. He crossed the length of the room until he was standing barely a foot away from the blushing teen. He reached his hand out to touch the boy's right hand, which immediately pulled away. The boy stepped back a few steps, holding his gloved hand. "That's all?"

"H-how did you know…?"

"Your hand left a dent in my desk."

The boy looked down, not meeting Roy's eyes. "It's… it's none of your business."

Roy's eyes narrowed at the boy for a fraction of a second, and he briefly wondered if he could order the boy to tell. But the more rational part of him said that forcing the boy to talk about his past wouldn't help anything.

"Fine, you don't have to tell me. I'll let you keep your little secrets. Then you have to tell me about something else. Like why you aren't used to people calling you short."

His head snapped up from its previous position as he shouted,

"JUST _WHO _ARE YOU CALLING SO SMALL THAT AN ANT WOULD STEP ON HIM WITHOUT NOTICING!"

Roy smiled. For that brief instant before, the boy had seemed… scared. He hadn't meant to do that to him; he had just been curious about his metal arm. But with that one comment the hyperactive short-fused blond that Roy had already grown used to was back.

"Why, I thought I had made myself clear! You, of course," Roy replied with a mock-apologetic tone.

Edward twitched.

"I mean, I see how you could have thought I was talking to someone else since I might not have seen you…"

He twitched again.

"Next time, I'll try to make it so clear that even someone with such undersized features as yourself can hear it…"

"THAT'S IT!" And with that, the blond dropped the cleaning tools and stormed from the room.

"See you next week!" Roy called after him.

"FUCK YOU!"

Roy grinned.

-.-.-

"Al, there's a hole in your logic! A big, gaping one!"

Al looked up from the dishes at his brother in the doorway. "Oh, Ed, you're home! And what are you talking about?"

"I cannot POSSIBLY have a crush on that damn stuck-up JACKASS!"

"Shhh! Pinako's gone but Winry—"

"What on earth are you talking about, Ed?" Winry entered the room with a questioning look on her face.

Caught like a deer in headlights, Ed stammered, "Oh! Uh, Winry, hi, um… Al, I'll let you take this one!" And he walked straight past Winry and into his and Al's room.

He heard her laughter even as the door closed.

-TBC-

I'm not sure if automail could actually be functional around this time period, but let's pretend it is. And you'll find out his story next chapter… I've decided that I'm eventually going to introduce someone for Russell, but I can't think of anyone in the canon to give him… So is anyone adverse to me putting an OC in there? I already have his personality all planned out if there aren't many objections. Well, give me a big fat review to feed my soul. See you next chapter!


	3. Wanderings

Erm, sorry it's been so long... I have no excuse; I was just lazy. But here you go:

So, the result of the 'Who should go with Russ?' was a tie between an OC and Envy. Do you people really want Envy? I mean, he **-**blurts out spoiler-! I shouldn't say what it is for fear that the one or two people out there that don't know will kill me, but trust me! It's bad! But if you all really want it, I'll put him it. So vote between an OC and Envy now! Who will win Russ's heart? XD Oh, and I'm having Al call Ed 'Brother' instead of 'Nii-san' because I have made it my goal not to use any Japanese phrases in this fic. So HA!

Chapter Three: Wanderings

_Edward looked at their mother sitting up in bed so she could see out the window. She had that expression on her face, the one that meant she was thinking about _him_. The man that had left them._

"_Mom! Are you feeling any better?" Al asked her, drawing her out of her daze._

_She looked at them with a warm smile. "Much better! You boys take such good care-" she broke off and began coughing._

_The brothers exchanged worried glances._

_-later-_

_They stood in front of the cave, both clearly nervous._

"_Brother, are you sure we should do this? It looks so dark in there..."_

"_Would you rather leave Mom to die? We have to get that flower for mom! We can't give up now!"_

"_You're right." Al sighed. "We shouldn't give up when we're so close to the cure-all..."_

_Ed lit the lantern and the boys entered the cave._

_-later-_

"_Brother, my feet hurt. And I'm getting hungry, we should really-"_

"_Al!"_

"_What?"_

"_There it is! The flower!" Kneeling, the boy took the flower from the ground by its roots. "Alright, now we just have to-"_

_A low sound interrupted him. It grew steadily louder until the source was visible. Two yellow eyes leered at the brothers from the darkness, making it known that they were not welcome._

"_...Brother?" Al almost whispered. "What now?"_

"_Just back away slowly. It's just mad 'cause we're in its home, so we should leave. No sudden movements or else it'll attack..." No sooner had the words passed his mouth than his foot hit a rock and he stumbled backwards._

_Suddenly it was upon him. The giant cat ravaged his leg with its fangs, and Ed didn't bother to stifle his screaming._

"_BROTHER!" The cat's attention was drawn from Ed and onto Al, as it fixed him with its deadly gaze before lunging at him. Though he was bleeding profusely from his leg with no hope of the blood stopping anytime soon, Ed was not about to stand by as his brother was being attacked. Before he knew what was happening, he found himself in front of Al, effectively shielding him with his body. The cat now had taken it upon itself to tear the flesh off of Ed's right arm as well. Immense pain and fear for Al was the last thing he remembered before darkness consumed him._

/-\

"AL!" Edward sat up in his bed panting, eyes wide. His brother knelt next to his bed, staring worriedly at Ed.

"Ed? Are you alright?"

His breathing slowly returned to normal as he remembered his surroundings. He was in the Rockbell's house, and it had been seven years since it had happened. He almost laughed at himself. Still having nightmares about that day? He hadn't had those for years... Ed was still attempting to repress the memory. The cave, the flower, the cat, the blood. Waking up to find that Al had fended off the cat with a stick and killed it after Edward had passed out. And then the horror of finding out that not only were both of his wounds so horribly infected that there was no choice but amputation, but it had all been in vain. Their beloved mother had died only a few hours after they had left for the cave. She was dead. And he couldn't stop it. Winry had offered to give him what was called automail in place of the stumps he had had for limbs. He had accepted and that was where he stood today. Almost seven years in the future.

What had brought this on anyway? Oh. Right. Mustang. He asked about the automail... Why couldn't he have just left him alone? Most people never noticed since the uniform required long sleeves and pants, and he always wore gloves to hide the hand. Damn perceptive bastard...

"Brother?"

"I'm fine, Al. Just a nightmare. Go back to sleep."

/-\

Edward stifled a yawn. In the entire history of pedagogy, there could never have been a more boring professor than Falman. The history of the Ottoman Empire could not have possibly been less interesting than when the squinty-eyed man taught it.

"The Ottoman military was a complex system of recruiting and fief-holding. In the Ottoman army, light cavalry long formed the core and they were given fiefs called timars. Cavalry used bows and short swords and made use of nomad tactics similar to those of the Mongol Empire. It also..."

Edward decided the best course of action would be to tune him out. He could always learn the material from the textbook tonight; it'd certainly be more appealing than this man's monotone. He knew that Winry would berate him for it later, but at the moment he simply couldn't bring himself to care...

His eyelids seemed to be getting heavier by the second, and he couldn't resist the temptation to close them, just for a moment.

He woke up to the pain as Russell kicked the back of his shins.

"What?"

"I said, Mr. Elric, how would the Greek revolution affect the Ottoman Empire?"

Edward blinked sleepily. Shit. "I'm sorry, Professor, but I-"

"Was asleep. I'm sorry Elric, but you know the rules. Sleeping in class gets you an automatic detention. Moving on, the dynamic of trade of the Ottomans..."

Grumbling, Edward cursed the Headmaster. It as entirely his fault he had received yet another blemish on his once clean record. If he hadn't mentioned the automail, Edward would have had a good night's sleep last night and this wouldn't have happened. Damn him...

/-\

"Well, we are quite the delinquent, aren't we? Falling asleep in class... Not that I blame you; Falman is such a bore, but this is the third detention in two weeks, and it's getting a bit redundant. Don't forget your detention next week, as well."

"For WHAT?"

"For calling me a, what was it again? A 'fucking arrogant asshole.'"

Edward glared up into the ash-colored eyes, blushing slightly. "Oh, shut up and tell me what I'm supposed to do now."

Mustang smirked. Ed had grown quite used to seeing this expression on him. This I-am-the-most-sadistic-evil-narcissistic-bastard-in-the-entire-world-and-I-think-I'm-twenty-times-better-than-you smirk that seemed to be reserved just for Edward. "Today, you'll be repainting my walls. They look as if they need a good new coat, don't they?"

Edward glared. "Fine," he said curtly. "Where are the supplies?"

"Now now, don't be like that. It almost seems like you aren't happy to see me..."

Oh, if only looks could kill... "Mustang, give me the supplies or your desk won't be the only thing with a dent in it."

"Oh, resorting to violence, are we? Not very mature of you. The only thing that comes from violence is more violence."

"What, you're gonna hit me?"

"Actually, that's considered child abuse. Now, are you going to work, or are we going to stand here talking all day?"

"Well, I would, but you don't seem to want to give me the goddamn supplies!"

"Oh yes, that is a problem isn't it?" Roy said and pointed vaguely to the corner of the room with the painting supplies in them. "Don't bother to take of the plaques, just work around them."

Snatching them, he began his work at the far corner of the room. After a moment or two of blessed silence, the headmaster opened his mouth again.

"You seem angry at me."

Edward rolled his eyes. "Now, whatever gave you that impression?"

Mustang pressed on. "Why would you be angry? I didn't cause these detentions. They were all your doing, so you have no right to be upset with me for doing my job."

"My fault?" Ed twitched. "MY fault? My first detention, YOU threw me in here because I was mad when you called me short, which I am NOT, just HEIGHT-CHALLENGED. The second time, you insulted my age AND height, and I was given no other choice but retaliation! And NOW, you-" the blond trailed off, anger fading from his face, replaced with embarrassment.

Mustang raised an eyebrow. "I what? How could I have caused this one?"

Scarlet-tinged, Ed said, "Last night… I couldn't sleep…"

The eyebrow rose even higher. "And this is my fault?" The smirk returned, even wider than before. "Were you up all night thinking about me? Sorry kid, I'm not into guys. And even if I were you're way too young for me."

And thus, Edward exploded.

"What the hell do you mean by that, you bastard! You think everything is about you, don't you? You think everyone loves you oh so much and that it couldn't possibly be anything other than that! Just because you're sexy doesn't mean I was having thoughts like that! Hell NO! You brought up some bad memories and I had a fucking nightmare! That's ALL! Now stop being such an asshole and let me finish painting this goddamn wall!"

Silence, and then- "You think I'm sexy?"

Edward screamed in frustration.

-.-.-

Things were going well, Roy thought to himself. The boy was in the palm of his hand. He had easily figured out the pattern of Edward. It was basically shout, swear, insult, repeat. Add in some exclamations about his height here and there. Roy found that he was growing quite fond of the boy, wanted him to be here more often. His job certainly wasn't as dull when the blond was present.

Roy strolled through the hallways, pointedly ignoring the paperwork he was supposed to have completed in a few hours. He could always do it later... What exactly do headmasters do in their "spare" time? He remembered when he was a kid that sometimes the principal of his school would stand in the classrooms occasionally, causing the entire room to break out in a nervous sweat. Well, it was his turn to make people uncomfortable now! What wing should he go to first..? Well, freshmen are awfully boring, so straight to the sophomores then...

He wandered from classroom to classroom, occasionally getting questioning glances from the staff. There was nothing too interesting, though he did get a laugh out of watching the botany course. A blond boy with an interesting hat had challenged one of the professor's statements, and to Roy's amusement, turned out to be correct. The professor, extremely embarrassed at having the headmaster witness this, had huffed and moved on to the next subject.

The juniors were pretty unexciting, however one boy caught his attention here as well. He seemed to look a lot like Elric, perhaps they were related?

And the seniors. They, of course, were great. A good-looking (and the only) girl in the mechanics class was working on her project at a speed faster than any other kid in the class. When Roy asked her what she was making, she went into a long speech about her wonderful project and the exact measurements and details about it. Roy had to make a quick excuse about being very busy and needing to leave. The girl had seemed disappointed, but reluctantly let the man go.

In the English Literature class led by the animated Professor Sciezka, a tall blond (a striking comparison to Elric's height) was in mid-argument with the professor, and neither seemed to even notice him walking into the room. They appeared to be quarrelling about the motives of a character in the novel study. The blond held his own, however he should have known better than to challenge Sciezka and her photographic memory in a literary battle. She pulled quotes and facts seemingly out of nowhere, and the boy was struggling to keep up. But keep up he did. Roy left after it seemed the argument would last a couple more eternities and gave pitying glances to the other students.

The remainder of the classes merely had professors lecturing their students; however, he did stay in one classroom for quite some time. He was standing in the class, directly behind all the students when he noticed a familiar blond braid.

It seemed Edward had noticed him before he had noticed Edward, for there was sweat gathering on the back of his neck. Roy smirked and continued to look at the blond. Edward bristled oh-so-slightly, and Roy drew the conclusion that he could feel his gaze. Roy noticed that the collar of his shirt had slipped down slightly and his mechanical shoulder was showing. Thinking that Edward probably wouldn't want anyone to notice his lack of skin, Roy did the first thing that popped into his head.

He strode directly into the middle of the room, and adjusted the neck of Edward's uniform, ignoring the multitude of eyes that were on him.

This was one of those times when being headmaster was a bonus. Every person in the room had stopped to look at him oddly, but they couldn't say a word about it. He smiled superiorly. He waltzed back to his place on the back wall, smile in place. The entire time, the blond seemed determined not to look back at him, move, or even react at all. Well, other than the interesting color he was turning.

Seeing that the class was still staring at him, he said, "Carry on," and they did.

Roy wondered why Edward hated him. He hadn't done anything that terrible to him, had he? Detention isn't that bad, most students get several by the end of the year. And though he mocked his height, he was sure multiple people did it regularly. How could they not when it was so easy to do? It couldn't have been the remark about his arm, for Edward had hated him far before then. Roy laughed inwardly. They had only known each other for a couple of weeks, yet it felt like so long... Roy decided that it didn't really matter if the blond hated him; he wouldn't stop teasing him. It was just too fun.

-.-.-

"I swear, that man is driving me insane!" Edward complained to Russell and Winry during lunch break. " I just want to throttle him!"

"Did he give you another detention?" Winry questioned.

"Well, no, but-"

"Did he make fun of your height?" Russ chimed in.

"HEY! But, no, he-"

"Then what's the problem?"

Edward remained silent. What was the problem? Mustang had actually _helped_ him, so why was he so angry? Ed didn't typically like people seeing his automail, and if anyone had glanced at his shoulder for some inexplicable reason, it would have raised questions. And yet he felt angry... No not angry. Embarrassed. That was it. The fact that he needed Mustang to help him was _embarrassing._

"Well, _I_ thought he was so nice! Today, he came into my mechanics class and started complimenting my work! _And_ he asked me what I was making! See, at least he can spot real talent!" Winry boasted.

"He watched one of my arguments with Sceizka too! But too bad he left before I won, it would have really impressed him. Not that I have much of a chance with him, but it still would have been nice..."

Winry raised an eyebrow at Russell, but Ed's mind was somewhere else. How come Mustang seems to be nice to everyone but him? Everyone always talks about the kind, wonderful new headmaster, but that bastard's yet to do something kind or wonderful to him! Maybe Mustang hates him? This caused an odd reaction in Edward, it almost hurt... Why should he care if Mustang hated him? What the hell did it matter, anyway?

-.-.-

Roy was back in his office, staring out the window. He was still thinking about Edward. The more he thought about it, the more this situation paralleled the one he had a few years ago with a high school girl that had lived nearby him.

He had seen her walking to school with her boyfriend several times, but she always looked into his window before she set off. And every time she came home, she glanced up at his window. Whenever they met each other on the sidewalk, she would turn red and run in the opposite direction.

Eventually he became fed up and asked her what the hell she was doing. It seemed she no longer wanted to hold it in and she told him. She was in love with him. Every time she saw him, her heart sped up, she flushed and she wanted to be with him always. It scared her, she said. She had a boyfriend who was kind and loving and she loved him. But Roy messed it all up. She wanted to be around him more, not her boyfriend. She wanted _him _to walk her to school, _him_ to kiss her goodnight, _him_ to be with her during the night. He hadn't known what to say. He told her she was too young for him, and left. He never saw her again.

Every time Edward passed his office, he looked through the open door, hoping to get a glance at Roy. Sometimes, Roy caught him at it, causing the blond to blush and storm away, shouting obscenities at the headmaster. And whenever they collided in the hallway, Edward always immediately turned and walked in the other direction. And he did turn red an awful lot when around him...

What was he insinuating? That Edward was in love with him?

Roy snorted. It was just a coincidence. Edward in love with him... Yeah right.

"No way in hell... is Edward in love with me..." Roy muttered.

-.-.-

Ed sneezed.

TBC

Hiya! Look! I actually wrote! It took me about a month, but I did it! Mwhahahaa! Well, anyways, did I have any comments about this chapter? Um, I have been told by someone (coughM-CHANcough) that they have "realized their undying love for each other way too fast". However, it is crucial to my plot that Edward realize he's in love with Roy early on, but Roy knows nothing about him being in love with Ed. What else...? Oh, and that you all should vote between an OC and Envy. AND I have calculated the exact ratio of number of readers to number of reviewers and for every 1 review, there are 25.8 people who didn't review! So if you are one of those 25.8 people, REVIEW!


	4. Misconceptions

Hey. M'back. Well, the ratio of reviewers is down to 12.820512820513... but that's only because only about 73 percent of those that read my second chapter read my third! –sigh- that's what I get for taking a month I suppose...

Most of you seem to want Russ to go with Envy... For those of you that are all: "No! My poor little Russ can't go with Envy! It just doesn't work at all!" I have a plan! It WILL work out... (I hope...) Well, here's etttttttttttttttttttttttt'''' ...That was a message from my cat who decided that that was an opportune moment to step the keyboard.

-.-' well, here's chapter four... Somewhat angsty, I must admit. Only somewhat, though. My first draft was completely Ed going, "Oh, poor me! Life is terrible! Blahblahblah.", but I changed that. '

Chapter Four: Misconceptions

Roy's eyes widened in disbelief. This couldn't be right... Had he just been too harsh on the boy...? Is that why...? No, that couldn't be it; most of the time it hadn't even been his fault... Well, he'd just have to confront Edward about this.

-.-.-

He had him cleaning bathrooms now. Joy.

Ed had _finally_ finished doing everything that needed to be done around Roy's office, so Roy had decided it was on to toilets. This probably meant that Roy wouldn't hang around, and would just come to check on him once in a while. After all, who'd want to sit in the boy's bathroom waiting for some kid to finish cleaning it?

Thinking about this caused that familiar ache in Edward's chest. He no longer questioned it, for it had become a daily occurrence. Talking about Roy, looking at Roy, arguing with Roy, dreaming about Roy, even _thinking_ about Roy: it all caused that ache. It usually appeared when Roy insulted him more often then actually conversing with him, or when it seemed like Roy had no interest in even speaking with him. However, it could come as a more pleasing sort of pain, the kind that showed up in his dreams... But this kind was unwelcome.

He hated that he cared if Roy cared. He hated that seeing Roy meant more to him than anything. And he hated that sometimes, he felt as though he'd do anything for Roy.

What had Roy ever done for him, anyway? Give him detentions, insult his height, and bring up sensitive subjects. Not the greatest man in the world... And yet...

Edward had been thinking of Roy as 'Roy' instead of 'Headmaster' 'Mustang', or, on his worse encounters with him, 'That arrogant, conceited bastard hell-bent on making my life a misery' for a while now. It just seemed weird, not calling him by his first name. He called him Roy in his dreams, so why not in his thoughts? Of course, he never called him that to his face. That would have been hard to explain...

Well, Roy was late. During his last detention, Roy had told him that Edward should wait in front of the bathroom nearest his office after school, and he'd come by with supplies and instructions then. It had been 15 minutes since the bell sounding the end of school had sounded. Roy was nowhere to be found.

Just as Ed was beginning to leave, Roy came walking steadily down the hallway with something in his hand.

"You bastard, where the hell have you been? Planning on making me wait here forever? I'll bet you did that on purpose just so you could come here and make some short joke like, 'In all the time I was late, I would have thought you grew a couple of inches, but I see I was mistaken' or something!"

Normally, Roy would have smiled and said some other insult, but not this time.

"Edward, do you know what this is in my hand?" Roy said slowly.

"Um... a file?" Ed was confused. Why wasn't Roy playing along? They always argued over nothing in particular; it gave Ed a thrill, and Roy never seemed to be adverse to it. In fact, it seemed he had no greater joy than making fun of Edward. So what was this all about...?

"Very good, Ed. This is a file. _Your_ file. This contains all data on you throughout your years at this academy. And I must say, there are some pretty impressive things written in this manila folder. Edward, I had no idea you were such a child prodigy! An A+ in every class since freshman year. And from your freshman, sophomore, and junior years, not a single detention. This year there have been nine of them, including this one. Why is this, Edward?"

Trapped. What to do, what to do... Roy stared at him, clearly expecting an answer. Ed needed to think of a lie, and fast. Telling Roy that he had received most of those detentions just so he could see him more often was _not_ an option. He needed to think... But thinking was just so damn HARD with Roy staring at him like that!

Edward looked away and thought of all the possible falsities he could use. All of them were unbelievable, gave away his true intentions, or just plain stupid.

An idea struck him. Would it work...? Was it possible? He didn't see why not... Well, here's goes nothing... He stood up to his full height, closed his eyes, and screamed out:

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING A GROWTH-STUNTED MIDGET!"

Roy blinked. "What?"

"You think you can call me something like that and get away with it? Why would they even make someone as irresponsible and cruel as you Headmaster, anyways?"

"But I didn't-"

"And how could they make someone headmaster who doesn't even know how to punish his students? It's hardly a detention if you sit around insulting me all day! Well, if this isn't going to be a proper punishment, I might as well just leave!" And with that exclamation, Ed stormed out of the building, leaving Roy open-mouthed, speechless, and trying to figure out what the hell had just happened.

-.-.-

He had avoided the question. It was as plain as daylight. The way he had done it was purely Edward, in that it was so insane that it actually worked.

Roy knew it couldn't _possibly_ be his fault, and he came up with only one other possible solution. There must be problems at home. Something causing him to act out. It was fairly commonplace for teens to be troublesome when something bad was going on in their house. Not that Edward ever did anything to disrupt the learning environment. He only ever received detentions for sleeping in class or yelling at those that insulted his height. But how Roy could possibly help Edward was a mystery. But not one that he wasn't ready to solve.

The first step was to figure out what was going on. Perhaps it was related to his metal appendage? He decided the best course of action would be to ask one of Edward's teachers if she had any clue.

Riza Hawkeye was sitting at her desk calmly grading papers when he walked through the door. She looked up at him, straight-faced as ever, and said, "Sir, don't you have paperwork to do?"

"I have work to do, but not of the paper genre," he replied. "Hawkeye, I need you to tell me everything you know about Edward Elric."

She blinked. "Sir...?"

"I know the question seems out-of-the-blue, but please. I need to know."

"His grades are astonishingly high, considering his lack of concentration in class. His attention is usually focused on the window instead of the professor."

"Do you know why?" he asked.

"No," she said slowly. "Sir, may I inquire as to why you are taking interest in this student?"

"Call it curiosity."

After a moment, she continued. "It seems as though he has lost interest in the world. Like he has found something better than everything else, and nothing seems important anymore."

"Does he seem depressed at all? Nervous? Tired?"

"No, Sir, not really. Usually he's smiling when he's looking out the window."

"A smile?" Roy questioned. "What kind of smile?"

"Just a little one."

"What does he do after that?"

"Well, after that, I usually tell him to pay attention."

"Oh," Roy said, disappointed with the lack of information. "I see."

He stood for a moment, and then turned to leave. "Well, keep me updated. I should go-

"If you ask me, Sir," Hawkeye interrupted smoothly, "I'd say he's in love."

Roy stopped dead. "...Love?"

"Yes, Sir. That is what I believe. Now perhaps you should get back to your paperwork?"

Roy left the room without another word.

-.-.-

"It's getting so cold out here, maybe we should eat lunch inside now?" Winry suggested.

"And sit where?" Russell pointed out. "The whole reason we eat outside is because of the lack of room indoors."

"Well, yeah, but there must be somewhere. Winter is approaching fast, and I'm _cold_."

"Winry, it's only the start of October, the weather is fine. You just get cold easily."

"I do not! Ed, come on, defend me here!"

Ed, who had previously been staring into the distance, looked at her and said cleverly, "Huh?"

"Why don't you ever pay attention anymore?"

Ed smiled faintly. "Sorry, Winry, I've been kinda out of it lately. Hey, do you guys mind if I go ask Hawkeye something? I wasn't paying much attention in her lesson today..."

Winry looked slightly aggravated, but Russ nodded.

Ed threw the remainder of his lunch in the garbage can and made his way back into the building. He shoved his hands in his pockets. He wasn't _really_ going to talk to Hawkeye. He just wanted to get away for a little while from all the noise...

The halls were empty, and he wondered vaguely what he could do. Perhaps he really should see Professor Hawkeye. He hadn't been paying much attention to her classes lately, and he wouldn't want to fall behind.

He strode to her door, and was about to knock when he heard muffled voices from inside. Curious, he listened. Two voices, one monotone and feminine, the other low. He peeked into the small window beside the door, hoping neither of owners of the voices would see him. Hawkeye was there, as she should be, but the person she was talking to had his back to Ed. Tall, with short black hair and a stance that was oh-so-superior. Roy. But what were they saying? The words were mostly inaudible, but he could catch a few every now and then. "Anymore," then "Smile." What were they talking about? Then, he heard the word, "Love," said by the feminine voice. Roy repeated the word, sounding confused.

Love? Why were they talking about love? A professor and her headmaster rarely talked about anything not related to school, and love certainly had nothing to do with the academy. So why would they...? Unless... Were Roy and Hawkeye having an affair?

The ache struck him; this time feeling like his heart would rip a hole through his chest. He nearly cried out at the pain, it had never been this bad before.

But maybe he was just jumping to conclusions! They must have just been talking about something perfectly innocent, and the subject of love somehow intruded into their conversation. It seemed perfectly logical. But then, why did Roy's voice sound like that? Anxious. Why would Roy be anxious? Why would he care if Hawkeye loved him? She was just a boring woman with a fetish for guns! Why would he love her, anyway? Just because she's pretty? Was Roy the kind of man that only went for looks? In that case-

The door opened, hitting Ed in the forehead and successfully erasing his mind of any thought at all momentarily.

"Ed?"

Regaining his composure, Edward looked up at the man in front of him. Or tried to, before he realized his vision was blurry. Had the knock to his head hurt his eyesight? He instinctively reached up to touch his eyes and realized that the area around them was wet. Had he been crying? He quickly wiped away the tears, but the action did not go unnoticed by the headmaster.

"Ed, are you alright? How hard did the door hit you? Do you need to go to the infirmary?" Roy sounded genuinely concerned about the blond, but at the moment, Ed couldn't bring himself to care.

He felt extremely feminine just then. His emotions were running rampant all throughout his body, seeming to take control of everything he could think or do. Despair. Anger. Jealously. And something else... But what kind of boy would cry over something like this? He was practically 18, a legal adult. And here he was, struggling to keep himself from crying. Pitiful.

He looked up at the Headmaster with tear-filled eyes. He tried to say something, but the words wouldn't come.

A voice came from inside the room. "Sir? What's going on?"

"Edward seems to have hit his head. I'll try to get him to the infirmary."

He couldn't take anymore. He ran.

/-

Love...

Edward lay on his bed, thinking. With Alphonse's light snoring as the only penetration to his sanctuary of silence, he found he could think much more clearly at night than any other time of day. And this night, he had a hell of a lot to think about.

Today at school, he had found himself to be crying. Over what? He wasn't sure of it himself. All he knew was that Roy had hurt him, and he felt an overwhelming hatred for Hawkeye.

It all had started when he had heard that word.

Love.

What was love anyway?

From the movies he'd seen, it was all one big, sappy cliché. His dictionary put it in more logical and realistic terms. It was an intense emotion; a feeling of deep desire, of tender affection and romanticism, of strong companionship, and of pure compassion. The opposite of hatred. But what the _fuck_ did _any_ of that have to do with _him_! Absolutely nothing, that's what!

The only person he loved was Al, and that was in a completely fraternal sense of the word. And he certainly didn't care who Roy loved. Why should it matter to him? After all, if Roy was happy with Hawkeye, then why shouldn't they be together? It's not like his feeble crush on the man could ever rival love, right? That's all it was, just a crush, not anything like deep, committed love.

He had known people in love. He had known his mother and father, when they were around, and they were wonderful. His father would always make things for his mother, and she would smile and laugh, and they'd just seem so happy. Nothing like what he and Roy could ever be.

When they were kids, Russell had told Ed he was in love with him.

_They were in the middle of studying for a geometry exam the next day. Seemingly out of nowhere, Russell slammed his book into the desk, effectively scaring the shit out of Ed, and turned to face him. The first thing he noticed when he twisted in his seat to look at Russell were his eyes. His silver eyes, which were normally so tranquil, were hard and serious._

_The words just seemed to tumble out of his mouth. "I'm in love with you."_

_Ed just stared._

_Russell looked down, avoiding eye contact. "I know you probably think it's weird, because I'm a boy. But I've realized. I love you. I know better than to expect that you'll like me back, you're probably straight anyways. I just had to tell you. I can't sit here lying to my best friend by telling him that's all I want him to be. My best friend, I mean. And-" he looked up, revealing the genuinely scared expression on his face, "...you... You don't hate me, now, do you? Because I love you and I'm... well... gay?"_

_This brought Ed out of his daze. "No Russ, I don't hate you, I could never hate you."_

_Hope shined in Russell's eyes. "Then...?" The unspoken question lingered for a moment, before Ed looked away._

"_I'm sorry, Russ."_

_Edward heard the sound of Russ turning back around in his swivel chair. "So Ed, how do you do problem 69?"_

They rarely talked about it afterwards.

Russell hadn't been able to keep it from Ed. It had been this burning desire that he just had to get off his chest, unable to hold it in any longer. It wasn't like that with Ed. He had kept it hidden, hadn't he? He never gave in to his need to tell Roy. That had to mean something, right?

And Al. Al had told him it was just a crush, and he was usually right about these kinds of things. Actually, Al was right about most things. He was, after all, an Elric. There was no way that _he_ could be wrong, right? But, wait, no. Wasn't it Al that had thought Ed was asexual? But that's not fair, that was just one time, and he didn't have sufficient evidence to form a correct hypothesis! But still... Alright, Al wasn't a good source. But there were plenty of other reasons why his crush on Roy was just a crush!

He had only met Roy about a month and half ago! Surely he couldn't have fallen in love in that short of time? Doing so would be preposterous, and the love would be purely superficial. And he knew so very little about Roy! The only idea of this whole love thing was utterly ridiculous, especially with someone like Roy. After all, who could love that bastard? It just didn't make any sense whatsoever, and-

Edward stopped.

Who exactly was he trying to convince?

Oh, fuck.

TBC

Take THAT! I fiiiiiinished chapter fooooour! XD I don't know why it takes me so long to write these when they're only 3000 words each... When I actually start writing, I can write loads, I just can never bring myself to actually sit down and write! ' Don't get me wrong, I love this fic to pieces, I just wish I could get someone else to write it for me. 'Cause it's just so much more fun to read than to write, ya know? Well, in my opinion anyways. So right! Envy. He'll be coming in either next chapter or the chapter after, 'cause I just couldn't fit him in this chapter, sorry! X3 But he'll come, don't worry! And I will try to update faster!

Now review! I'm begging you. On hands and knees, saying, "Please, PLEASE review my fic! Don't just read it, and then go onto some other fic without reviewing. Please. I'll do anything you ask, anything at all! (Ok, anything within reason.) PLEASE." So REVIEW. Thanks!


	5. Confrontations

Hyullo. Tiz, I, Rayne-kun! Sooooo, I HIT 100 REVIEWS! –cheers- -wipes tears from eyes- You're all so wonderful –glomps you all- -pokes and glares at those that don't review-

So, it's been forever and a day. . Sorry... BUT, I got my older bro to beta all of my previous chapters, so they are now spiffier than EVER! But, enough of my rambling, here's chapter five!

Chapter Five: Confrontations

Roy didn't understand.

It had been a week since that day, and there were still a great deal of questions roaming his head. Why had Edward been outside the door? Had he heard anything that they had said? Why had he been crying? Was he hurt that badly when the door hit him? Why did he run away? And just _who_ was Edward in love with?

He had tried to confront Edward several times after the incident, but it never seemed to work. The blond would always dash away from him with astounding speed. This added another question to the list: _Why is Edward avoiding me?_

A knock. Not expecting anyone to be here this late after school, Roy jumped.

Regaining his composure, he said, "Come in."

The door opened to reveal Riza, stone-faced as ever.

"I thought all the teachers had already left," Roy commented.

"I was just about to," she said, "When I remembered. You told me to 'keep you updated,' about Elric, remember?"

"Yes," he said slowly, "I remember that." Perhaps she could give him answers to his questions?

"Well, ever since the day you asked about him, he's been acting rather differently. He still doesn't pay attention, but now when he stares out the window, he just looks miserable. Like he has had his heart broken by the one he loves..."

"You seem pretty convinced he's in love, Hawkeye."

"Call it woman's intuition," she replied, "But I'm certain of it. That boy is deeply in love with someone."

Someone... but who? And how could they hurt him like that? What kind of girl could make Edward fall in love with her, then stomp on his heart and leave him in the cold? Sure, the boy was a bit of a spaz, and didn't know when to keep his mouth shut sometimes, but these were weak reasons to turn him down.

He was sure this was not just an issue of teenage "love", where the boy "loves" a girl because she's pretty, and when he finally gets the courage to ask her out, she turns him down. Edward wasn't that kind of boy. Crazy though he may be, he was certainly not stupid, and nothing can be stupider than that sort of "love".

So it was serious. Edward was deeply in love with someone, and they did not love him in return.

"Sir...?"

He jumped. He had almost forgotten she was in the room. "Right, Hawkeye. Keep me informed of any changes. You are dismissed."

She bowed slightly and left him alone with his thoughts.

Judging by the tears in Edward's eyes when Roy found him outside the door, only a number of things could have happened. One, the door had pummeled into his face so hard that it had drawn tears. This was unlikely, as Roy had heard somewhere that automail was excruciatingly painful to attach. If Edward was able to endure that sort of pain, being hit with a door would be nothing.

Two, Edward could have just been rejected. The object of his affections had just turned him down, and he had fallen apart. This one didn't make sense, for there had been no one else in the hallway.

Three, Edward had just come to a terrible realization. Specifically, that his love could never be returned. Roy had known this to happen to teenagers quite often; their hormones were so out of flux that they tended to become very emotional when they came to such realizations. This was possible, but not probable, and left many questions unanswered. Such as, what had he been doing there in the first place? Why would he be on his way to Hawkeye's? Perhaps he had been going for help on her subject? But if he were truly looking for help on schoolwork, what would have prompted the tears?

Maybe he should focus on who the perpetrator was instead of why Edward was crying. Close friends of Edward's seemed the most likely suspects. Ed seemed the kind of guy to fall in love with those he knew well, not just pretty girls he knew from afar. But how could he find out who Edward's friends were? He hadn't exactly told him the identities of his friends, choosing to instead insult Roy repeatedly.

A knock on the door startled Roy out of his thoughts. This was certainly unusual. Two visitors in one day? "Yes?"

Secretary Douglas opened the door. "Sir, a call has arrived from Mr. Hughes. Shall I patch it through?"

Roy put his hand to his temple and rubbed his forehead. He had no time for Hughes' bragging! On the other hand, it could be important... "Go ahead," he said reluctantly.

She left the room and he phone began to ring. He picked it up. "Hughes, if you've just called to tell me about your adorable daughter and beautiful wife, then hang up now, or else."

"Geez, Roy," Hughes' mock-affronted voice sounded through the device. "Something's got you peeved."

Roy sighed, returning his hand to his forehead. "It's nothing... Did you want something, Hughes?"

"Well, actually, Elicia did the cutest thing today-"

"Hughes," Roy growled, cutting him off.

"Come on, Roy, can't you take a joke anymore? I was just calling to see how you were, that's all. Am I not allowed to see how my best friend is doing?"

"I'm fine, Hughes. Everything's fine. Now go do the work you're trying to avoid."

Hughes sighed. "Fine. But before I go, you have to tell me what's got your pants in a bunch. Oh wait, I know!"

"You do?" Roy said, startled.

"You're just annoyed because you can't get a wife!"

Roy slammed the phone down. Stupid Hughes...

Roy glanced out his window. The sky was blue and cloudless, the grass was vibrantly green; it was the ideal day to be outside. Odd, considering it was October, but he wasn't one to question the weather. The campus was practically empty, though there were a few straggling students, probably waiting for a ride, or just enjoying the nice weather. He could see the tops of the trees swaying slightly with the breeze, and he realized he really wanted to feel the wind on his face. After opening the window, he breathed in the air and sighed pleasantly.

A voice carried from somewhere on the campus. The speaker was saying something about how he couldn't believe that they had been left behind, yada yada. A tree obscured much of his view, so he couldn't see the boy that was speaking. The voice sounded awfully familiar though... It came closer, and Roy was able to make out more of the conversation.

"Just because some stupid boy asked her on a date, she thinks it's cool to just leave us here? She's the only one with a license, and we can't exactly walk home!"

"Calm down, Brother, I'm sure we'll find _some_ way to get home..."

"And how the _hell_ are we supposed to do that?" Roy knew that voice... Why couldn't he fit it with a name...?

"Maybe if you weren't so short-sighted, you would have thought about this _before_ we got stranded here!"

"SHORT? Watch your mouth when talking to your older brother, Alphonse!" Ah. Edward. It had been so long since he had heard that voice he had nearly forgotten it...

Roy could hear the roll of eyes in Edward's brother's tone. "Really, Ed, you would think that you'd be used to the whole 'short' thing by now..."

"Ah, shut up, Al. You're starting to sound like that bastard..."

"Since you brought him up... How are you? You know... about the whole Hawkeye thing?" Roy blinked. 'Hawkeye thing'?

"Oh, right." Edward's volume lessened considerably and Roy had to strain to hear him. "That... I'm fine."

"You're fine," Al repeated, tone flat.

"Yes, I'm fine."

There was a pause, and then Ed blurted out, "Alright! Fine! I'm _not_ fine! Are you happy, Al? I'm not fine! But, then, do you really expect me to be? He's in love with her! And she loves him! I hate it! I hate her! I hate him! I hate this whole damn thing! I hate it when he walks down the hallway and says in the low voice, 'Good morning, Riza,' as if it's all so formal and la-dee-da, when he's really seeing her behind everyone's back! And I hate how she replies with that monotone, 'Good morning, Headmaster,' like she's totally not into him and he's totally not into her and there's nothing going on whatsoever! And I hate..." his voice became softer, more downcast, "I hate knowing that I have no chance... Because how can I compete? How can I compete with the knowledge, the looks? I'm nothing... And she's everything."

A car honked its horn from the parking lot.

"That's Pinako's car," Al said softly. "Winry must have told her about us. Come on." And they left.

Roy closed the window and sat back down in his chair, overwhelmed with the knowledge he had just received. How could he have been so blind? The answer had been in front of him all this time, he just hadn't realized it! It was all so clear now, the crying, the running, the avoiding, _everything_. Roy reached up and massaged his temple.

Of all the people he could have fallen in love with, Edward had to pick Riza Hawkeye.

/-\

So... Bored...

Who in their right mind had given this man a teaching license? Professor Falman clearly did not have the ability to hold a students attention for longer than three seconds, causing it to be nearly impossible to learn anything! Ed's eyelids drooped for the third time that minute, and he had to remind himself yet again to stay awake. There would be no more detentions from here on out, and he couldn't afford to get one just because of a boring class! After all, he had to avoid Roy. Forever.

He felt a tap on the back of his shoulder, and he slowly reached back to take the note from Russell. "_Ed! Did you see the new boy? The one with the dyed hair? Russ"_

As he hadn't actually been paying attention to his surroundings, Edward gave the class a look. He saw the boy in a second. Long dark green hair stuck out plainly among the mass of blondes and brunettes in the room. The boy was wearing a baggy black tee-shirt and black cargo pants decorated with an assortment of chains and belts. His head was nodding slightly. Ed realized he was wearing well-concealed headphones and wondered if Falman would notice. Probably not, as he seemed very absorbed in his speech about the Ottomans. You'd think they'd be out of this stupid unit by now, but Falman just _had_ to explain every little detail…

He wrote back, "_Yeah, we haven't had a new student for a while... He looks like trouble. What about him? Ed"_

Ed could feel Russ's grin through his reply. "_Well, you know I've always been attracted to danger. Russ"_

Ed rolled his eyes. What was it with Russ and his numerous attractions? Couldn't he just find one guy and stick with him? He told Russ so in his response.

"_Ah, come on," _Russell wrote back. _"That wouldn't be _nearly_ as much fun! But, Ed, doesn't this guy seem... weird? Russ"_

"_What do you mean? Ed"_

The reply took longer than usual and Ed had just started to wonder if it was coming at all when he felt the small tap on his shoulder. "_Well, I don't really know why, and it's kinda hard to explain, but... he sorta... reminds me of you. Russ"_

Well that wasn't what he was expecting. He nearly laughed aloud. This punk kid that Russ had just laid on a few minutes ago reminded him of him, eh? "_Russ, I think you need to get your head checked Ed"_

He heard a soft chuckle from behind him and the whispered words, "Maybe you're right..."

A beep from the intercom sounded, starling the classroom. "WILL EDWARD ELRIC PLEASE COME TO THE OFFICE, I REPEAT, WILL EDWARD ELRIC PLEASE COME TO THE OFFICE."

The students turned to look at him, and Falman looked annoyed. When Edward didn't move, Falman said, "Well, Mr. Elric?"

Ed stood, wondering what he could have possibly done to deserve a trip to the office. He had been exceptionally careful lately, so what could it be? Perhaps it was not related to something he had done, it could just be something he had to pick up, or something like that. Edward exited the classroom and strode down the hallways to the office. And if it was Roy... Well, then, he'd just run again, no matter what the threat was.

Peering through the glass doors, he saw nothing out of the ordinary. All the secretaries working diligently at their desks, Roy nowhere in sight. He opened the door and greeted the nearest secretary.

"Hi, I'm Ed Elric, I was called down here?"

The woman told him without looking up from her computer or even pausing her frantic typing, "The Headmaster wishes to see you."

Ed swallowed. Now what... Well, he could always run. Roy couldn't _force_ him to see him, could he? Like hell he could! There was no way he would go see that evil, narcissistic, manipulative-

"The Headmaster also instructed me to inform you that if you do not comply to his wishes, he will see to it that you are expelled."

Colorful language exploded from Ed's mouth, earning glares from the secretaries. Ed stalked to the back of the room and flung open the door to Roy's office.

"WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU WANT!"

Ed blinked. There was no one in the room. He took a step forward in confusion. Hearing a slam and a click behind him, he whirled around to see Roy in front of the now closed and locked door. Trapped.

"Edward, we need to talk."

Like a caged animal, he looked desperately for an escape route.

"You've been avoiding me."

Spying the window, Ed lunged for it, frantically trying to undo the latch.

"Edward I'm not stupid. I knew you'd go for the window; I locked it."

Ed turned around slowly, slightly out of breath. His plan of avoiding Roy forever wasn't really working out the way he had hoped. "Fine," he said, "I'm here. I'm listening. What do you want?"

"Just what I said. We need to talk."

"Well, then, talk!" Ed snapped.

Roy walked to his desk calmly, bending over to retrieve a small leather-bound book. He flipped it to a tagged page and began to read, "'It is a breach of the code of conduct of Flamel Academy for a faculty member to engage in a romantic or sexual relationship for whom he or she has, or should expect to have, academic responsibility'- quoted directly from Flamel Academy's Book of Rules and Regulations. Edward, do you know what you are getting yourself into by doing this?"

Ed looked up in terror. He _knew_. When the fuck did he figure it out? Had he known all along? Had he just been mocking Ed the whole time? Did he love tormenting Ed _that_ much? Edward tried to speak, but no words came out. He swallowed and tried again, but Roy spoke first.

"Ed, I know who you're in love with. But the thing is, you _can't_. It is _illegal_ for a member of the faculty to be in a relationship with a student. Not to mention the age difference, or what, 14, 15 years? Edward, it's impossible. Just give up. Find someone else to love."

"I..." he hadn't realized his eyes were tearing up until he heard it in his voice. He turned away so Roy wouldn't see. He didn't need Roy mocking him on top of all this. "I... But... We could do it!" he had found his voice. "We could keep it a secret! No one would have to know!" he sounded pretty pathetic, and he knew it. But he had to try.

Roy shook his head. "No, Edward. It would never work out. You're too young, anyway; you're not thinking straight. This is just your hormones talking."

"Too young?" Ed nearly yelled. "I'm old enough to know who I love!"

"You only think your in love," Roy insisted.

"I know what I want, Roy! I know who I want!"

"You're just a child."

"I'm 17, for fuck's sake!"

"Edward, even if you _are_ in love, which I highly doubt, it's not gong to work out. It's _illegal_, how many times do I have to repeat that?"

"I don't care, Roy. I need to try."

"No, Edward, you don't understand. There could be a trip to _prison_ involved in this!"

"But they'd never catch us! They wouldn't find out!"

"Edward!" Roy began to shout now. "Just give it up! Your going to cause a shitload of trouble for someone you don't even love by doing this!"

"Stop trying to tell me how I feel, Roy! I know who I love, and I love _you_, Roy!"

"You-" Roy faltered. "...What?"

"I love you, Roy," Ed repeated, now staring intently at Roy's feet. It was so different, saying it out loud. It was the first time he had, and it all seemed more real now. More permanent. He loved Roy. _Loved_ him. He couldn't for the life of him explain why or how it had happened, but it was the truth. With those words, Ed's fire of passion and rage was extinguished, leaving him with a smoldering heap of emotions. He remembered Hawkeye. She loved him just as much as he did, the only difference was Roy actually loved her back. This was a pointless argument. Roy could never love him.

_So what, Roy, you thought it was just a crush? Well tough shit, because I'm in _deep_. You didn't expect that, did you? So expel me, suspend me, never even look at me again, do whatever you need to do. You don't' want some kid in love with you, right? It's just like Al said, to you I'm just 'some short blond kid'. Not relationship material. Not to you. After all, you have a good girlfriend, a good job, a good life. You don't need any complications like me, right? It would be best if we each pretended the other didn't exist. That's what you want, isn't it? You just said it would never work. That I should give up._

Ed looked up to see Roy with his hand to his temple and his brow furrowed. "But- I- You- Hawkeye-"

"Yeah, I know Roy. You love her. And she loves you. It would be best if I was out of the picture."

He walked to the door reached his hand out to the handle. Remembering it was locked, he said softly, "Roy, unlock the door." He looked back at Roy. What he saw was not what he had anticipated.

Roy was turning around slowly in a circle, as if physically looking for an answer to something. His face was set in an expression of what seemed like complete bewilderment.

He said as if trying to puzzle something out, "You think I'm in love with _Hawkeye_?"

Ed blinked. "Well, yeah. You are, aren't you?"

Roy stared at Ed for a moment, then burst out laughing. And even with the present circumstances, Ed still felt a faint tingling in his chest. He had never heard Roy really laugh before. Every time Roy had, it had always been that stupid sardonic laugh that set Ed off in some rant or another. But this was different. This was... nice.

"No, Edward," Roy said between laughter, "No, I'm not. She's my colleague and friend. Nothing more. How did you come to that conclusion, anyway?"

"I- That's not important!" Ed shouted, his face tinged red. Had he been wrong this entire time? "So... if you don't love her, then why are you so against us being together? Do you really hate me that much, Roy?"

"Edward, you're a 17-year-old boy. I'm a 32-year-old man and the headmaster of your school. You can't be serious."

"But I am, Roy, I'm completely serious!"

"Will you stop calling me that? You're not my equal, Edward; you're just a child!"

Before he knew what he was doing, his right hand clenched into a fist and pummeled into Roy's face. It was just a second too late when he realized he had just punched Roy with his automail arm.

Roy flew backwards, colliding with his desk and crumpling to the floor. He didn't move.

"Roy...?" Edward squeaked. "Roy, are you ok?"

No answer.

The tears he had held back so well were let loose, and he had to choke back a sob. What had he done? He dropped to the floor and crawled to Roy.

His eyes were blank and lifeless, and a dark bruise was beginning to form on his cheek. Ed shook his shoulder a little bit and received no response from the man on the floor. He hadn't... killed Roy, had he? Ever since grade school when he first got this metal appendage, he had controlled himself when he had been tempted to hit someone. Winry had always told him it would be like hitting them with a baseball bat. And he had just hit Roy in the face.

"Roy," he choked the name out and put his arms around the man, crying into his shirt.

/-\

Overwhelming pain. _Damn_, that brat packed a good punch.

He opened his eyes and stared up at the ceiling. Had he blacked out? And why did he feel a weight on his chest? He looked down to see a messy blond braid buried into his shirt. Edward? Was he... crying?

He groaned and attempted to sit up, only actually moving slightly. The boy quickly lifted his head up and looked at Roy.

"Roy?" His eyes were red and puffy, and his voice cracked.

Roy smirked his trademark smirk and said, "Damn, Edward, first you nearly kill me, then you start to cry? You're one messed up kid."

The look on Edward's face was so indescribably beautiful, it took Roy's breath away. He flung his arms around Roy's neck, and buried his face in Roy's shoulder. "I thought... I'm so glad you're..."

Roy chuckled. "Alive? Did you seriously think that would kill me?" Sharp pain accompanied those words. "Shit, Ed, did you really have to hit so hard?" The words were joking, almost playful.

Roy didn't want to point out that Edward was lying on top of him and hugging him tightly. He didn't want to kick Edward out of his office and never see him again. He didn't want to yell at Edward for the insubordination of punching his headmaster.

Right now, he just wanted to feel Edward's hard body against his own, breathe in his scent, and wrap his arms around that small little waist. So he did.

And suddenly, it didn't matter. Nothing mattered. It didn't matter that Roy was twice his age. It didn't matter that they were both male. It didn't matter that Roy was Edward's headmaster.

Edward lifted his head up and stared into Roy's dark eyes. Slowly, ever so slowly, Edward began to lower his face to Roy's.

But it was Roy who finally sealed the distance between their lips.

TBC

Holy shit! That took FOREVER, but at least I wrote an extra thousand words for you all! (That is, if you haven't all forgotten me) And please don't think the kiss came out of nowhere, and Roy just suddenly fell madly in love with him, because all will be explained! Just stick with it! And don't worry, a more detailed description of the make-out scene will come in chapter six, but only if you review! If I don't get more reviews for this chapter than I received for the last, I will not update! That means at least 58! So go! Review! Thanks


	6. Lovers

It's a Rayne-kun! Thank you all SO MUCH for all the reviews! Over 200, _and_ over the amount I asked for! Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!

Just some quick notes- those of you that remember the line: "An excess of blood poured from his probably now broken nose" will please note that I have taken that line out. I realized that, um, ew, bloody kiss. XP Also, Al doesn't say 'Brother' anymore. Just Ed or Edward. Brother just... sounds stupid.

-Ahem- So yes, to make a long story short, here's chapter six.

Chapter Six: Lovers

Electricity. That is the only word to describe what Roy felt at that moment.

It was just like every other kiss he had instigated, yet it wasn't. It felt exactly the same, yet completely different.

Roy's mind went somewhere else entirely as he began his usual routine. He flipped them over so he was on top and pressed harder with his lips, making the kiss almost bruising but not quite. He left hand reached back to the boy's hair and pulled out his hair tie. He ran his fingers through the blond hair, unthreading it while raking his fingers against Edward's scalp.

The boy moaned and made feeble attempts to return the kiss, but it was clear Edward had little or no experience in the matter.

Roy neatly pried apart Edward's lips with his tongue and almost groaned aloud at the sound the boy made when their tongues met. There was no competition for control as Roy had anticipated- it seemed the blond had accepted defeat in advance as he allowed Roy full dominance. Or perhaps a pro like Roy was too much for the inexperienced Edward. Roy would have smirked had his mouth not been occupied with more pressing matters. Quick though Ed's tongue may be in an argument, it certainly did little in this situation. Roy then did what he did best and proceeded to give Edward a mind-blowing kiss.

Roy's hands then began to move on their own, reaching underneath Edward's shirt and up to his nipple. The first touch caused a sharp intake of breath from the boy, followed quickly by a moan. Roy was loving every second of this. Sure, he'd had loud women before, but none this responsive. It was probably because Edward was so young…

But that thought, and every other one for that matter, was expelled from his mind when Edward thrashed erotically after a twist of a nipple.

Roy pulled away from the kiss, smiling at Edward's dazed half-lidded eyes and partially open mouth. He then lowered his mouth to the boy's chest and began licking and sucking at the hard nubs. He didn't know how the boy would respond if he were to take his shirt off entirely, so he held it at Edward's neck with one of his hands. He continued this for a while, enjoying the reactions of the boy he had pinned.

Moving out of instinct and pure desire, Roy's mouth began to move lower and lower, licking, kissing- until he reached Edward's abdomen. And that's when everything came back to him.

He jerked away and sat up, panting heavily. What he had almost done… And to a student! A male student, none the less! He'd have been fired immediately, and his reputation would forever be one of a pedophile… And he must be one! To go that far with a seventeen-year-old? The boy wasn't even out of high school!

"…Roy?"

Roy looked up at the blond he had practically molested. He was blushing deeply and looked more than a little exhausted. But he didn't look upset in the slightest. Quite the contrary, actually. And why would he? The naïve boy had practically asked for this! He had wanted this! "…Yes, Edward?"

And that's when he smiled. And although it was a weak smile, coming from an exhausted boy, for some reason it still took Roy's breath away. "I really do love you, Roy."

Just then, the door was flung open, and in stalked Maes Hughes.

Roy quickly jumped to his feet. He had never been more relieved to see his best friend in his life. "Hughes!" he rushed over to Maes and shook his hand vigorously. "I'd like to meet a student of mine, Edward Elric. Edward, this is Mr. Hughes, a member of the school board." He gestured to the floor where Ed now sat, looking confused and a little frazzled.

Hughes blinked and sent Roy a puzzled look. Roy glared an 'I'll explain later' back at him, causing Hughes to shrug and reach his hand down to Ed in order to help him up.

Edward took the hand, then said stupidly, "I, erm, fell. Sorry."

Maes smiled brightly and replied, "S'ok, it happens to the best of us. Why, just two days ago, my darling little daughter Elicia fell off her tricycle and scraped her knee! It was traumatizing for her, I'm sure, but she's all right now. I have a picture of her recovering from the ordeal, do you want to see?"

"Actually-" Roy interjected, "Edward must be getting back to class. I seem to have kept him longer than I had anticipated."

"Uh, right. I'll be seeing you then, Ro- er, Headmaster Mustang." With that he strode out of the room, closing the door behind him.

Maes then turned to him with raised eyebrow. "So, before we get to why I came here in the first place- what was that all about? Who was that kid, why was he in here, why was he on the floor, what's with the bruise, and _why_ was the door locked?"

Roy blinked. "That's right, I locked the door. How did you get in?"

A roll of eyes. "Come on, Roy. Everyone knows the locks here are crap. A sharp turn to the left, a jerk to the right, and ta-da! Open sesame. Now answer my questions first."

Roy considered lying. After all, he didn't have to tell Hughes anything. He could make up some excuse- anything but admit what really happened. But, Hughes was his best friend. There was no way Roy could lie without Maes seeing right through it. So he told the truth, emitting nothing.

"Damn, Roy," Hughes said after he was done. "I never knew you were so kinky. A student? And a boy at that? And here I thought you only played for one team."

Roy stared in disbelief. That was it? No disgust, no reprimand, no reminding him of the consequences?

Hughes laughed. "Wow Roy, you look like I just hit you on the back of the head with a board. What were you expecting, me to tell you how filthy it is, how you went too far, et cetera?"

"Well, yes," Roy admitted. "I was."

"Psh, come _on_, Roy, you really think I would say something like that? And besides, you didn't go all the way with him."

"So? I molested him. Isn't that just as bad?"

"No," Maes said slowly, "You didn't molest him. From the way you tell it, he was willing. And if you didn't have sex, _technically_, you're being perfectly legal."

"But morally, I'm shit. Morally, I deserve the death penalty."

"Jeez, Roy, you're so melodramatic. It's not like you killed anyone, so don't go all suicidal on me. If you really hate yourself for what you've done, then flat out tell him you're not interested, and never see him again. But if you want it, and he wants it, and you don't actually have sex, then I say go for it. And, just to remind you, that includes oral and hand jobs."

Roy nearly choked. Blunt as always, Hughes. "So… Why _are_ you here?"

Maes groaned. "Oh, _that_. Just paperwork. I need your signature on some documents. Here, there's…"

-.-.-

The rest of the day was all a blur to Ed. In one day he had gone from having no sexual experience to making it past second. And with the man of his dreams, to top it all off. It seemed all too good to be true. And if that man hadn't interrupted them, he could have heard how Roy really felt! Damn that eccentric weirdo for coming in at just the wrong moment! Well, actually that wasn't true. Just the wrong moment would have been when they were in the middle of that kiss, or when Roy had began to lick his chest… Fuck, that had felt wonderful…

"All right," Al exclaimed when they reached their room. "I give up. You've been ridiculously giddy ever since school, what happened?"

Ed grinned. "Let's just say really good things happened today."

Al stared unimpressed. "Like what?" Realization dawned on his face. "Oh! This wouldn't happen to have anything to do with Headmaster Mustang, would it?"

Edward pulled out his hair tie (he always kept a spare around his wrist, so the one lost in Roy's office was easily replaced), and undid his braid. "I'll never tell."

"Oh, god, Ed, you didn't…?"

Ed blinked at his brother. "Didn't what?"

"You had sex with him, didn't you? Oh, Edward, why did you do that? You idiot!"

"Woah, woah!" Ed exclaimed. "Wait a minute! I didn't… do that with anyone, don't go making wild accusations like that…"

Al breathed a sigh of relief. "God, Edward, don't scare me like that… You could have really hurt a lot of people by doing _that_… So what did you do then?"

"Oh you know," Ed blushed, "Stuff."

Al shook his head. "Oh, Ed. You're so pathetic."

"HEY! Who are you calling pathetic, Alphonse? As I recall, you were the one that had a teddy bear until you were fourteen!"

"Ed! You promised me you'd never make fun of Mr. Snuggles!"

Ed crossed his arms. "Times have changed."

"Jerk."

"Crybaby."

"Reckless."

"Tree-hugger."

"Shrimp."

They spent the rest of the afternoon picking up the furniture and other various objects thrown in Ed's outburst.

/-\

He was called into Roy's office again the next day.

"Again, Elric?" Professor Falman asked.

Ed practically leapt from his chair. "Sorry, Professor! I'll be back as soon as I can!" A lie, of course, but it didn't hurt to be on a teacher's good side.

He nearly ran to the office, flinging open the door when he got there. The secretaries told him the headmaster was waiting for him.

"Hiya!" he greeted after the door was safely closed.

Roy looked up from whatever paper he was reading, giving Edward a nice look at the dark blue bruise on his cheek. He cringed. Did he really do that? Roy gestured to one of the seats in front of his desk. "Sit," he commanded.

"What am I, a dog? Fine…" He took a seat and looked up at Roy. He had never seen the man so serious. Oh, no, he wasn't going to tell him it had all been a mistake, was he?

"Edward, yesterday, you told me that you loved me, not once, but twice. Did you mean what you said?"

Ed gulped, but nodded. "Yes."

Leaning forward, Roy asked, "But how can you be so sure? We met very recently."

Edward had asked himself the same question many times. And the truth was, he didn't have an answer. "I… I'm not sure how… But I know that I am," he said firmly. "I just know it."

"You know it. Edward, you are fourteen years younger than myself, male, and a student, and yet you claim to love me? It's just not logical."

"Roy- think of what you are associating. Love and logic rarely go hand in hand."

He nodded. "True. But what about common sense?"

Ed bit his lower lip. "But, Roy-"

"No, listen to me, Edward. You can't love me. I won't let you."

Ed stared. "…You won't let me?"

"No," he said. "I won't. Because I have a reputation among women. I'm a heartbreaker, Edward. I don't do relationships- I have sex. And I'm not going to lie to you, and tell you I love you, because I-"

"I don't care!"

Roy stopped. "What?"

"I don't care…" his voice was shaky, "if you don't love me now… Because, I get that. I get that you don't care about me at all now. After all, I'm just some kid that you like to tease and give detentions to. But," he looked up, a determined gleam shining in his eye, "I know that I can get you to fall for me eventually."

Roy couldn't stop himself. He laughed aloud. "Confident, are we?"

Even Ed had to smile. "Yeah, I guess so."

"Well…" Roy pushed a strand of hair behind his ear and smiled down at the determined blond. "If you care that much, I guess I have no choice."

Ed's eyes widened, almost not daring to believe it. "You mean…?"

Roy leaned forward and grabbed the collar of Ed's shirt, pulling him up into a chaste kiss. Sitting back, he smirked across the desk at the astonished blond. "I mean, I'm your whatever-you-want-me-to-be for the time being."

Edward felt the overwhelming desire to jump on the table and hug Roy until he was begging to be let go for fear of bones cracking. Then he would kiss him so hard and passionately that even Roy would be out of breath. Luckily, he had enough self-restraint to settle for plastering a giant grin on his face.

"However!" Roy said, killing Edward's elation. However…? "No sex."

The most skilled of farmers could have easily mistaken the boy for a tomato. "Uh, all right…"

Roy's eyes widened in disbelief. "You don't mean… Edward, you're a virgin?"

If it were possible, Ed would have turned redder. "NO! What gave you THAT ridiculous idea!"

Roy shook his head sadly. "Only the inexperienced would react the way you did. Oh, Edward, I'm sorry. Perhaps I shouldn't be your companion; I'm denying a teenage boy the one thing he needs out of life…"

Ed slammed his right hand down on the desk. "I AM NOT! And I don't _need_ that, I'm perfectly fine without it!"

Roy tutted. "I do wish you'd stop making dents in my desk… Oh, had but I known of your virginity sooner…" he faked a tragic sigh. "It's not too late to turn back, you know."

Edward knew the game was over. "I know."

"You're sure about your decision?"

"I am."

Roy smirked. "And you're fine with no sex?"

Ed looked away. "I am."

"But what if I'm not?"

Shock, dismay, horror- all were seen in Edward's expression as he turned back to Roy.

Roy gazed at him with those coal black eyes for a moment before breaking out in a grin, "Just kidding."

"YOU-"

Edward always did love arguing with Roy.

-.-.-

Russell Tringham ran down the hallways of Flamel Academy in desperation. He needed to find someone to give him a ride home, and quickly. He had stayed after school for his weekly Gay-Straight Alliance meeting and had remained in the room afterwards to do the clean up, but without realizing it, had missed the late bus. And without Winry and her car here to drive him home, he was pretty much stranded.

He was just rounding a corner, when he collided with someone. Being the graceful creature he was, he fell directly on his butt.

"Hey! Watch where you're going!"

He would have retaliated, had he not looked up and seen the boy he had ran into. He found himself staring directly into the face of the new boy he had noticed in History class.

"Oh," he said, standing back up, "I'm sorry, I just wasn't paying attention, I guess. You see, I was trying to find someone to take me home, I missed the bus and… Hello?"

The boy seemed to have spaced out, staring in the direction of Russell's chest. Russ looked down too. "Out And Proud!" his shirt read in rainbow letters.

The boy grinned up at him. "So they have queers at this school too?"

Russell braced himself. Homophobes could be dangerous… "So what if there are?" he challenged.

The boy held his hands up. "Hey, I didn't mean it like that. What I meant was, I'm queer too. Well, bi, actually."

Russell visibly relaxed. Not only was he not going to beat him up, but he was gay too? So Russell actually stood a chance with one of his crazy attractions? That was certainly a change.

"Actually, that's why I'm going to this school now."

Russell was horrified. "They kicked you out because you're bi?"

"Oh, no, nothing like that. Some dick just called me a faggot and told me I should die of AIDS, and let's just say I was more than a little pissed."

"You beat him up?"

"Wouldn't you do the same?"

Russell grinned. "I'd probably try something, but if he started to fight back, I'd run for my life."

The boy shrugged. "Fair enough."

Russell held out his hand. "Russell Tringham. And you are?"

The boy took it. "Envy Ouroboros."

"Envy…" Russ said aloud, feeling the way it sounded on his tongue.

Shaking his head, Envy said, "Weird name, isn't it? My messed up mom decided to have seven kids and name them all after the seven deadly sins. She died after four though."

Not knowing what to say, Russell settled on, "I'm sorry…"

"Don't be. She was a bitch and a whore, I'm glad she's gone."

Russell cringed. Harsh. "For curiosity's sake, which are your siblings?"

"My younger brother Wrath is a freshman here now, and I have two older siblings: Greed, he's 21- he's a total ass, thinks he's so cool, and Lust, she's 25- studying to be a doctor."

"I see… So, Envy." Russell smiled playfully. "My friend says you look dangerous. Is he right?"

Envy's eyes narrowed. "Judging by appearances, eh? I don't know if I like the sound of your friend."

"He's not all that bad… But is he right? Are you… dangerous?"

Envy gave a smirk. "I don't know… I guess it depends on which kind of dangerous you mean."

Russ took a small step closer. "Any kind. Take your pick."

"Well," Envy took a step as well, and leaned so close that his mouth was nearly touching Russ's neck. He whispered lowly, sending shivers up Russell's spine, "You'll have to decide that for yourself."

And with that he was gone, as if he was never there at all.

Russell smiled to himself. What an interesting boy… And damn sexy too.

But he couldn't shake that crazy notion he had first had when he had seen the boy in Falman's class. That he was like Ed in some way. He couldn't quite place the reason, but there was no doubt about it. There was just something about him…

They were obviously very different in more ways than one. Particularly because Envy actually seemed to be interested in him, whereas Ed…

Ed was asexual. It wasn't that he didn't love Russ; it was just that he couldn't. He was incapable of falling in love with anyone- boy, girl, or anything else. It was just the way he was.

But, it was because of this that Russ had such a hard time moving on. If Ed had just been straight, he would have been able to go on with his life, find other people, fall in love again. Instead, he just had a number of different one-night stands, all of which he cared nothing for. He did everything he could to avoid getting in a real relationship because he was always waiting for Ed. Always waiting for that day that Edward would come to his senses, and realize what he was missing by standing on the sidelines.

But it never happened. Edward just sat there, oblivious to the intensity of Russell's emotions. He never found some girl to love. He never even had a crush.

If Ed were gay, it might have even hurt worse than the asexuality, because it would mean that there was something wrong with Russell himself, and Ed didn't want to be with him. And he would still be waiting.

Dammit, Ed, life would be so much easier if you just got a chick!

And Envy… Envy wanted to start something; he wasn't exactly subtle about it. And Russ had to say- he was interested. He wanted that boy, badly. He wasn't sure if it was because he was attracted to danger, because Envy reminded him of Ed, or if it was because that boy was just so damn sexy, but he definitely wanted him.

But, he had to wait for Edward… What if Edward was cured right after he decided to start something with Envy? He could blow the opportunity to finally get the boy he loved…

He took a deep breath. All right. He was betting it all on one go. He would try to make a move on Ed one last time… If it didn't work, he'll go with Envy, and give up on Ed. He gulped. Easier thought than done. If it did work, well, he'd have to let Envy down gently…

Yes, this was a good plan. It could work…

The question was, did he want it to?

"Ack!" he exclaimed suddenly. "I still don't have a ride home!"

TBC

And he's the part my weirdo little sister wrote and blackmailed me into putting in. I hope you all enjoy its stupidity:

And then Roy said moo for no reason whatsoever. Ed walked in the room, and hearing his boyfriend say moo was very confusing. Roy claimed he was copying someone from some romance anime or something like that. His name was haru sohma, and he had the year of the cow. Ed told Roy that there was no year of the cow, only of the ox. Then they started a moo fight. Ed won the moo fight, and Roy blew up a farm because he lost.

ALL RIGHT! I actually wrote most of this in one day… I had been avoiding it, because I don't think I'm very good at kissing scenes… But once I actually got started, it didn't take very long for me to get back into it! Next chapter shouldn't take as long, because I'm really looking forward to it. I've had chapter seven planned for a very long time .

So what do you all think of Envy? I'm going to be showing more sides of him as time goes on. Russ and Envy will be my little sidestory… Hey, do all want to know some pointless information? Roy and Ed. Russell and Envy. R and E. ha. 

Oh and that line that Hughes said, "It's not like you killed anyone, so don't go all suicidal on me," killed me. I hated myself for writing it…. –tear-

Oh, does anyone know how far you can go before you have to change the rating to "M"? I don't think you're allowed to go all the way on but I'm not sure. If that's the case, then just talking about it as much as my fic does count? Or do I have to imply it happening? I don't know, someone please tell me! Thanks!

Anyways, Review! I won't threaten like I did last time, but I am not above begging pathetically. So _pleeeeeease_ pleasepleasepleaseplease review! See ya'z!


	7. Dates

So, this was supposed to go up four weeks ago. I e-mailed it to my beta, and asked them to put it up for me, so you wouldn't all be kept waiting. But, sadly, the mail didn't get to my beta. So, when I came back from camp, it was still not up. So, I apologize for the wait, and hopefully at least some of my readers are still around. So, right, I'm sorry again, and here's what I had written:

I'm disappointed in you all. Barely any reviews for that last chapter. Tsk tsk. Well I doubled the regular length of the chapters I write on this one, so you better review, dammit.

Thank you to all that reviewed about the rating. I've decided to keep it on T for now, but it will undoubtedly go up to M in the future.

So. This is a chapter I have been planning for a _really_ long time. Since the beginning, really. So, here ya go

Chapter Seven: Dates

"Roy, let's do something."

Roy briefly paused stroking the young man's hair. Edward lay on the couch in Roy's office, his head on Roy's lap. His hair tie was currently elsewhere, having been lost during their previous activities. It was after school, Edward had claimed to be at a club, and Roy had said he had work to do. They were left alone. The school was practically void of human life- just the way they liked it.

"Do something?"

"Yeah, like, as a couple."

Edward turned so he was looking right up at Roy with golden eyes. Roy blinked. "You, mean, like a date?"

Ed nodded.

Roy was puzzled. "But, Ed, we can't."

Ed looked up at him with wide, puppy eyes. "Why?"

"Because," Roy explained, straining to keep his face straight. Did Edward know how cute he looked? His eyes, so innocent, and that little pout on his lips…" that would involve going out. In case you haven't noticed, we can't exactly do that."

"Not necessarily," Ed said casually, dropping the pout, much to Roy's dismay. "We could go somewhere where no one will be."

Roy raised an eyebrow. "Like where?"

"How about your place?"

Roy's eyes bulged. Was this kid suggesting- no he couldn't possibly mean- they had already discussed that- Roy tried to regain his composure. "And why would you want to go there?"

"Well, it's private, for one thing. We could do whatever we want…"

Roy nearly fainted. This boy- this innocent child- But they couldn't- Roy had _told_ him that- But... The prospect of it… Forbidden sex… Roy's bed… Beautiful Edward writhing beneath him, moaning, calling his name with his virgin voice-

"Um?" Edward said suddenly, lifting his head from his previous position in Roy's lap. "Roy, you-"

Roy looked down. It seemed he had gotten a little too excited…

Realization dawned on Edward's face as he turned bright red. "AH! No, not THAT! I meant like dinner and a movie, you perv!"

Disappointed, Roy leaned back against the couch. Well, might as well make the best of it. "Of course, I couldn't expect you to want to do that, being the child you are."

"HEY! I am not, bastard!"

"Oh yeah?" Roy said, face impassive. "Say the words 'sex', 'cum', and 'cock'."

Edward flushed. "What!"

"You heard me."

"F-fine, it's not like it's a big deal…" Edward paused for a full ten seconds, took a deep breath, and said all three in one quick breath, causing them all become one word.

Roy smirked and shook his head. "Pathetic. I guess someone as small as you are is bound to be childish."

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SMALL HE COULD DANCE ON THE TIP OF A PIN! AND BESIDES, THAT WAS A STUPID WAY TO TEST MY MATURITY!"

"Oh, Edward, will you ever get over your lack of height?"

"STOP CALLING ME SMALL!"

Roy laughed. "So, Edward, back to what you were saying… you want to come to my place? For dinner and a movie? Why?"

Because…" Edward said, suddenly becoming nervous.

"Yes…?"

"Do… Do I have to answer that?"

Roy's sadistic side came into play as he replied, "Of course, Edward. What if I thought you had _ulterior motives?_"

Edward blushed, remembering the misunderstanding. "I just… want to really spend time with you, you know? Not just… like what we do here."

Roy raised an eyebrow. "You seem to like 'what we do here' when we're doing it. Or were all those moans fake?"

Edward turned away, but Roy could see the red on his neck. "Sh-shut up…"

Smile widening, Roy said, "Oh, so you don't like to talk about that?"

"I said, shut up…"

Roy leant over and began to whisper in Edward's ear, "You don't like to hear me tell you how sexy you sound when I'm running my tongue across your skin?" The boy shivered. "You don't like it when I tell you that the look you give me when I pull my lips from yours is absolutely beautiful?" Roy put his lips on Edward's neck, and breathed, "You don't like it when I say that every time you moan, I just want to forget the rules and fuck you blind?"

"Roy-" Edward gasped, turning and pushing him away. "Roy, stop…"

Reluctantly, Roy pulled away and leaned back against the couch. He'd almost lost it there… This kid just made him lose all sense of reason. But then, he was only doing this to humor Ed. It's not like he really felt anything other than lust for the boy… That was just impossible. "So, back to what you were saying…"

"Right," Ed continued, still thoroughly flushed from Roy's previous actions, "I just thought we should spend real time together…"

Dinner and a movie at his place, eh? There was no real harm in it, was there? It's not like anyone would know… Why not? "I guess that's fine…"

"I mean, if you don't want to- We don't have to- If you'd rather not-"

"No," Roy said adamantly. "Let's do it. This Friday after school, alright?"

Edward smiled.

-.-.-

Alphonse lay on his bed peacefully. Everything was so different with Edward still at school. His homework was already finished and tucked neatly into his backpack, whereas if Ed were here, he'd probably still be on the first page. He just would never let Al concentrate, no many how many times Al politely asked him to. He didn't have to worry about fighting Ed for first shower (Ed always used up all the hot water) and had already taken one. And best of all, Edward wasn't here to turn everything into a complete pigsty! Tidying the room up had been so simple without Ed around to throw his belongings everywhere!

So now he lay, already finished with everything that needed to be done. And it wasn't even 5:00… He'd have to tell Edward to stay with the Headmaster more often… Alphonse closed his eyes and was just about to drift off to sleep when the door opened with a slam, startling him to consciousness.

"AL!"

Al rubbed his eyes and looked up at his brother. "Brother, when will you remember to tie your hair back up after staying with him…" he said sleepily.

"Al, this is no time for your nagging!"

Slightly alarmed, Al replied, "Why? What's wrong?"

"I can't do this! It was a stupid idea! What was I thinking? No, I wasn't thinking. Ah, I'm such an idiot!" Edward was pacing back and forth across the room.

"What did you do?" Al relaxed. Nothing life threatening, just something with the headmaster if he was reading Ed right, which he usually did.

"I-" Ed colored. "I asked if I could go over to his place…"

Al sat up, terrified. "Edward! What did I tell you about-"

"NO! That's _not_ it, why does everyone keep thinking that? Am I the only one who's not a pervert around here?"

Relieved, Al asked, "Then why?"

"Just to spend time with him, you know? It always seems like we're not really a couple- just two people that hang out and make out. I mean, I don't even think he really likes me the way I like him." He slumped on his bed looking down at the floor.

Al wanted to comfort him and tell him that of course the headmaster loved him and how could he ever think otherwise, but if there was one thing Al could say about himself it was that he didn't lie. Ever.

He sat down next to Ed and put an arm around his shoulder. "Ed, I don't know if Mustang loves you. I've never even met the man. And really, I can't see why he would. After all you are a male student who is, what, 15 years younger?" Edward visibly sank at his words. "But, I do know this. There's no way you can find out if he likes you if you don't try. If you don't go to this thing- that you suggested by the way- you'll never have a chance with him."

Edward sat and thought. Al could only imagine what went on in his brother's head. There was no way to ever know for sure what he was thinking. Every time Al thought he had Ed figured out he would go and do something totally unexpected.

Ed suddenly sat up and turned to Al with bright eyes. "Al! I've just figured it out! You have to come with me!"

Like that.

"What?"

Ed's hands rose and started to help him talk, as they always did when he was excited. "Yeah, if you come, you can tell me if he likes me or not! You can see how he acts around me and everything! I mean, sure he's a bastard, and he might make fun of you for, uh, I dunno, something, but you can take it, right? Come on, it'll be great!"

"You can't be serious."

Ed's grin faltered. "Why not?"

"Why not? Ed, does the word awkward mean anything to you?"

Edward made a gesture. "Oh, come on, it'll be fine! You just- what?"

Al was staring.

"What?"

"You did it."

"I did what?" Ed sounded positively perplexed.

"The hand-thing. You did the hand-thing."

"What hand thing?"

"You know, the thing with your wrist. This," he made the gesture back at Ed.

Ed looked horrified. "I did not!"

"Oh yes you did! I saw you!"

"I didn't! I do have some masculinity left!"

Al put his head in his hands. "How could I not have noticed you were gay? Am I just an idiot?"

"HEY! I am NOT gay!"

Al blinked down at him. "But you're in love with Mustang. Or is he really a she?"

Ed looked away and blushed. "No, but, I'm not gay. I don't look at other guys… or girls…. Just him. Just Roy."

Al smiled at him. Oh, Ed. "But still, Ed. I can't just go with you to this thing. It would be _really_ awkward if you showed up with your little brother."

"What if… What if you brought someone? Like, a girl? Then it would be like a double date!"

"Ed, I don't have a girlfriend."

"Well, it doesn't really have to be your girlfriend. Just someone to take out and pretend they are your girlfriend for a night. And who knows, maybe it'll be a good thing? Maybe she'll like it and want to go out with you!"

"And maybe she'll hate it and never want to date me."

"Come on, Al. It's not like you to be so pessimistic. It'll work out, please?"

Al looked at his brother's pleading expression. Maybe he was right. Maybe she would like it. And it wouldn't be like a real date or anything, so if it didn't go well, it's not like she would be deterred from ever going out with him. This was a chance. A chance for him to get what he always wanted.

"…Alright. I'll do it."

"YES!"

"But you have to call him and see if it's ok first! Or talk to him at school or something. You have to warn him first, alright?"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. But now the more important question- What do I wear?"

Al stared at him, and they both burst out laughing.

Half an hour of preparation and encouragement later found Al standing in front of Winry's door with one hand poised to knock. "DANGER. CONSTRUCTION ZONE," read the yellow sign. He heard mechanical noises from behind the door. Maybe he should just give up and go back to Ed and explain that he couldn't possibly ask Winry out and he really _really_ didn't want to get hit with a wrench. But if he didn't do it now, he'd never be able to.

_Knock knock_. "Winry?"

He waited a couple of seconds then knocked again, louder. "Winry?" he called out.

The sound of drilling stopped. A disgruntled Winry opened the door. "What?" she snapped. Al cringed. "Oh, hi Al. Sorry, I didn't mean to bark at you like that. I'm just in the middle of a new design for Edward's arm, wanna see? It's really my best work, if I do say so myself!"

"Sure," Al said, nearly stuttering as he said it. He'd never been so nervous in his life. Breathe, Al, you can do this, just breathe.

It had been a while since he'd seen her wearing her work clothes. A red bandana held her hair so it wouldn't get in her way and she wore her baggy white pants as always, but that wasn't what he found himself unconsciously looking at.

He'd never understand why she wore that thing. It could barely even be called a shirt, and she wore it for _work_? She was working with metal and fire and grease, and she wore what could only be described as a strapless bra. Part of him wanted to tell her that it was dangerous and to put on a real shirt immediately. But… She just looked so… He shook his head. Bad thoughts, bad thoughts!

"Um… Al? You alive in there?"

"Oh, ah, sorry, just was spacing. So! Yeah! I'd love to see your new automail."

She grinned at him. "Well, come on in!"

He entered the room and sat down on her bed. She ran to her desk and grabbed the arm. "Isn't it fabulous?" She proceeded to give him the particulars of her mechanics. Al just smiled and told her it sounded wonderful after she had finished. You'd think that after all this time living with Winry he'd learn a thing or two about mechanics. Sometimes, he wished he would, so he and Winry would have more to talk about, but it seemed he had no aptitude for that sort of thing.

"So, Al," she said, sitting down on the bed next to him. "What's up? You don't usually come in here."

He heard his heart beat louder and faster and for a split second was terrified that she would hear it too. He swallowed, attempting to calm himself. He could do this, he could do this…

"Well, you know about Ed and the Headmaster?"

She chuckled at that. "I know, isn't it a riot? And here we thought he was never gonna get anyone. One of the few times you've ever been wrong, Al. So, they're going out now, right?"

"Well," Al said. Just be calm and collected. And don't look down. "Sort of. Anyway, it's their first date soon. They're having it at Roy's house because, you know they can't have it in public and everything."

"But they're doing it anyway? How romantic! I wish I had a boyfriend that devoted to me…"

She looked up at Al, who promptly broke out in a nervous sweat. "S-so," Al said, looking anywhere but Winry. Oh god, did he just stutter? "Ed is really anxious about the whole thing and he wants me to be there with him, for moral support and stuff like that, but that would be really weird right, and I'd be like a third wheel and everything, so we- I was thinking… it'd be better if someone else was there with me, you know to… help," he finished lamely. Yes, very smooth Alphonse. Brilliant way to ask the girl of your dreams on a date. She's probably fallen madly in love with you just by hearing your eloquent-

"I'd love to!"

Al was dumbstruck. "You would?"

"Yeah! I'd like to really meet Ed's new boyfriend, and it'll be great cheering him on! And this way, you won't have to be alone! When is it?"

"Friday night."

"Oh," she looked disappointed. "This Friday?" Al nodded. "Sorry, Al, I can't. I promised I'd go out with the girls Friday. Mellie's been upset that I haven't been talking to them as much since we don't have many classes together this year, and well, she'd get really mad if I cancelled. I'm really sorry." She looked it too.

"Ah, it's ok," Al said, trying to act nonchalant. "No biggie. Well, I'd better go make dinner, I'll call you when it's ready."

He left quickly and went back to his room.

"So, how'd it go?" Ed asked excitedly. Seeing his brother's expression, he changed his tone. "Oh… what happened?"

"She's busy…."

"Well, that's not your fault, it's not like she didn't want to go, right?"

"I don't know… I don't think she realized I was asking her out."

Ed put a hand to his forehead. "Sorry, Al… But, now what do we do? Do you have someone else you could ask? How about Mellie?"

"She's why Winry's busy- They're going out."

Ed looked shocked. "_What_?"

It took Al a second to realize why Ed looked so stunned. "Not like that, idiot, like to the mall or something! Sheesh."

"Oh. Well… How about Paninya?"

"She'll probably be with Winry."

"Martel?"

"Also with Winry."

"Well, damn. Uh… Rose?"

Al looked horrified. "She has a _boyfriend!_"

"Well, I'm running out of ideas! … Catherine?"

Al snorted. "Oh, yeah, that'd go over well. Hey Catherine, want to come with me to a double date with a couple of gay men? She'd faint!"

"Hmm… you're probably right." They sat and thought for a minute or so, before Ed came up with another of his brilliant beyond brilliant ideas.

"Well, you know… It doesn't _have_ to be a girl."

Al slowly lifted his head to look at his older brother. "Edward… Are you thinking what I think your thinking? Because, if so, forget it!"

"But Al-"

"No! Ed, I'm not gay! Russell may be, and you may be (sort of), and the headmaster may be, but _I_ am _not_."

"Come on, Al! It'd only be for a night! Then you could go back to being your normal straight self! Please. I _really_ need you there, Al."

And even though he knew he was probably being manipulated, when Ed gave him that look, he could never say no.

He sighed. "Just for a night?"

Ed grinned. "Just for a night."

"… But who would I take?"

Ed gave him a look. "Um, how about your best friend in the whole world?"

"Fletcher?"

"No, Professor Armstrong. Of course Fletcher!"

"But… what if he thinks I'm gay? I don't want him to get the wrong idea…"

"Just explain the situation, I'm sure he'll understand."

Al bit his lower lip. "I don't know, Ed. What about Russell? What if he finds out?"

"Ah, come on. Don't you trust your best friend?"

"Well, yeah but-"

"It'll be fine, Al. You worry too much."

Maybe he was right. The things he feared rarely came to pass. "Fine… give me the phone."

Surprisingly enough it was easy to convince Fletcher to come with. He said it sounded like fun, and he didn't mind pretending to be gay for a night. He was shocked to hear about Ed and the headmaster though.

"Should I tell my brother?"

"No!" Al had practically shouted. "I mean, no, please don't do that. I mean, it would hurt him…"

"Alright, I guess. But I don't feel right about lying to my brother."

"Just for a little while ok? Ed will probably tell him soon."

Very soon, actually. If, when Al went to this "date" he realized that Mustang loved Ed, he'd get Ed to tell Russell everything. There was no point hiding it if it were mutual love. It would be brought into the open eventually, and the longer the lie, the more hurt there would be. And if there wasn't anything… well, he didn't want to think about that.

-.-.-

"And she got the ice cream all over her face and it was just so cute! And then-"

"Hughes, as fascinating as this all is, I really have to go."

"Aw! But why! I haven't even told you about when she played the piano!" Maes whined.

"…I have a date." Roy said reluctantly. Did he really want Hughes to know that?

"But I thought you weren't going out today?"

"It's at my house this time."

"Ooh, you stud! Who's the lucky lady?"

"…" He didn't have to answer that did he? The whole 'not-being-able-to-lie-to-Hughes' thing really bugged him at times like this.

"…What are you all quiet for, Roy? Come on, who is it?"

"…You remember that kid from my office?"

Hughes gasped. "No! Roy, what did I tell you about-"

"We won't have sex. Edward is too childish for that anyway. It's just because we can't go out in public."

Hughes was silent for a moment. "You mean, you are really going out with someone? You do realize you can't have sex."

"Yeah."

"And that if you get caught, you'll ruin your reputation."

"Yeah."

"And that no woman would probably ever want to sleep with you again."

"…Yeah."

"I don't get it, Roy. Why are you doing it then? I thought you didn't like him!"

"I don't!"

"Oh really?" Maes' voice was dripping in sarcasm. "So you're willing to stake everything for some random kid you can't even have sex with?"

Roy didn't answer. Mostly because he didn't know what to say. Hughes was right. What the hell was he doing? If he didn't even like the kid, why was he even doing this? I mean, sure, the kid was sexy as hell, and he'd be lying if he said he didn't get horny just looking at him with his hair down, but… They couldn't fuck! What was the point?

And yet…

"Roy?"

"… I don't know."

The doorbell rang.

"Sorry, Hughes, I have to go. Edward's here."

"Alright, behave!" Maes sang.

Roy slammed the phone on the receiver. Why didn't he just kill Hughes? Oh, yeah, the whole best friend thing. Damn that.

He went to the mirror and started to smooth down his hair, realized what he was doing, and promptly stopped. Why the hell was he so nervous? He was just doing all of this to humor Edward! That's it! Just to humor him…

He opened the door and started, "He-" He stopped. And stared.

"…"

He should have known something like this would happen.

"…Edward. Can I talk to you for a second?"

One of the two boys standing next to Edward grimaced. "Ed! I told you to warn him!"

Ed turned to the other boy. "I was going to! I just… never got around to it…"

"Ed, I can't believe you!" The boy turned to Roy. "Hello, I'm really sorry about this." He extended his hand and Roy took it. "I'm Alphonse, Ed's brother. That's Fletcher." The other waved shyly. "Ed, go explain this to him. We'll wait here."

What a mature boy. How unlike his brother. Roy pulled Edward inside and shut the door. They stood in the doorway, Roy looking down at Ed while Ed looked intently at the floor.

"Edward."

The boy cringed at the sound of his name.

"Why are your brother and friend here?"

"Um, well, you see, I, uh, thought it would be fun to have a double date!"

Roy raised an eyebrow. "A double date," he said flatly.

"…Yeah?"

Roy sighed. Of all of the crazy things Edward had done, this took the cake. "I thought you wanted this to be a couple thing."

"It is! There are just two couples!"

What had he done to deserve this? Oh right. He agreed to be Edward's boyfriend. Bad move. Well, there wasn't any harm, really. It just… wouldn't be the night he imagined. Not that he had imagined it or anything! He didn't care about tonight at all!

"…Alright, whatever. Do what you want."

Edward's eyes glowed. "Thanks, Roy!"

"Yeah yeah…" Roy opened the door and let the two boys in.

"So, you're Ed's older brother?"

Ed bristled. "HE'S MY _YOUNGER_ BROTHER!"

"What? But he's so much _taller_ than you!" Roy smirked at Ed's more than miffed expression.

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SHORT HE GETS MISTAKEN FOR A TWO-YEAR-OLD!"

Alphonse put his hand on his head. "Oh, Edward," Roy heard him mumble. Fletcher was staring incredulously at Ed, as if afraid he was going to blow up or something.

Roy's eyes widened. "Huh? Where did Edward go? I can't see him now that that ant walked in front of him."

Ed shrieked indignantly and shouted, "WHY ARE YOU SUCH A FUCKING ASSHOLE?"

"Why not?" Roy shrugged nonchalantly. "I have nothing better to do." He was about to say something else, when he noticed Alphonse looking at him, as if calculating something.

The look disappeared as soon as he noticed it, causing him to wonder if it were ever there at all. "So, Headmaster, why don't we eat dinner? Is it ready yet?" Alphonse asked.

Alphonse was pretty impressive, being so calm in the face of his superior. The same thing certainly couldn't be said for Fletcher, who looked utterly terrified. Wait a minute, did he say dinner? Oh, shit. "Well, since _somebody_ 'forgot' to tell me about you two, I only have enough food ready for Edward and I."

Ed burst out, "You _cooked_?"

Roy rolled his eyes. "Oh please. Do I look like I can cook to you? I ordered pizza."

Al's thoughtful look returned, vanishing once again almost immediately. "How many did you order?"

"Two."

Fletcher finally spoke up, "You ordered two pizzas for two people?"

"This is Edward we're talking about."

"Oh yeah."

"HEY! I don't eat _that_ much!"

All three gave him a collective Look.

"Oh shut up, all of you."

"Well," Alphonse said, "if we can _somehow_ prevent Ed from eating two much, it'll be fine. Where's your dining room?"

"Of course, right this way," he said politely. He led them into the room. He got the distinct impression that Edward was still glaring at him from behind his back, but he paid it no mind. It was nothing new, after all. He rather pitied the poor boy that Alphonse had brought with him- he looked like he was about to have a heart attack. Roy smirked. He probably was so nervous at being in his presence. After all, he was the god-like Roy Mustang.

Roy pulled out two more chairs from a back room and they all sat and ate. Alphonse had devised an ingenious system where he had the pizza boxes next to him on the opposite side of Edward. When Edward finished a piece, he'd give him a new one. There was pleasant chitchat for a while, then it happened.

"Al, give me another."

Alphonse didn't look up from his piece. "No."

Edward blinked. "What?"

Alphonse put his pizza down and looked at Ed. "I said, no, Ed. You've already had four pieces."

"Yeah! Only four!"

"Ed," Fletcher said, "I'm going to have to go with Al on this one. If you eat anymore, there won't be any more for us."

"Come on, there's still plenty left! Isn't there, Al?""

"There are three more. They are big pieces you know."

"But… but…"

"Edward," Roy said, "Were you anyone else, I'd say you're a growing boy and need your food. But I don't think that's going to happen anytime soon." He stopped and looked thoughtful for a moment. "Or ever."

Ed looked like he was about to yell something, but Alphonse put his hand on his shoulder, effectively calming Edward down enough to content himself with a glare like a thousand daggers.

"Why, thank you Alphonse."

Something inside of Ed snapped. "You know what! This whole time you keep making fun of me, but you've never said a single bad thing about Al! Or Fletcher! Or even the pizza! Why the FUCK is it always ME!"

"Because it's just so damn much fun." Roy replied without hesitation.

Edward screamed in frustration.

"And it's so easy." he added as an afterthought.

-.-.-

That bastard, that fucking bastard. Here I go, and suggest this stupid thing, and all he does is sit there and make fun of me? The next time Al goes to the bathroom, I'm just gonna punch his fucking lights out…

Edward sat there grumbling throughout the rest of the dinner while Roy and Al talked. Fletcher added in the occasional comment and seemed to be slowly getting used to the presence of the headmaster with each bite he took from the pizza that should have been Edward's.

Then it came time to watch the movie. Roy said he had nothing picked out, and that they could decide amongst themselves what to watch. He brought them to the living room and Ed gaped.

"How the FUCK are you so goddamn RICH? You're a headmaster!"

There was a ridiculously large plasma screen TV in the room, along with several shelves of DVDs and a long leather couch. Lining the walls were several paintings and sculptures- mostly abstract. Ed felt slightly overwhelmed.

Roy shrugged. "I have my ways."

After much bickering between Ed and Al (Fletcher mostly just agreed with whatever Al said), they finally decided on a movie. Al popped the movie in, and they both sat on the couch in-between Roy and Fletcher. Even though Ed was peeved at Roy, he still wasn't about to miss the opportunity to sit next to him during the movie. He leaned his head against Roy's upper arm (because he couldn't reach his shoulder) and waited for the movie to start.

The music started and Roy said disbelievingly, "You must be joking. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone? What are you, ten?"

Ed scowled up at him.

"Just because a lot of children like it doesn't mean only for them," Al pointed out.

"Yeah!" Fletcher agreed.

Roy looked down at him, and Ed glared back as if daring him to make a further comment. "Alright, whatever."

Ed smiled and snuggled deeper into Roy's arm. Some time in, the arm moved and wrapped around Ed's shoulders. The movie suddenly became unimportant as Ed felt Roy's warmth enclosing him. He would have liked nothing better than to lean up and kiss Roy right then and there, but Al and Fletch were still there. So he contented himself with leaning even deeper into Roy. This was real happiness.

Had he been looking, he would have seen Al's small smile as he glanced over at the couple.

-.-.-

'Well, that was fun!' Fletcher thought to himself as he walked up to his house. And it had been, even if it was really weird at first. It was the _Headmaster!_ And Edward kept swearing and yelling at him like it was no big deal! But, Fletcher guessed you could do that if you were dating. Which still was rather bizarre. Ed and the Headmaster? Who would have guessed it? And hanging out with Al had been really great, even though he was pretending to be his boyfriend. He didn't _think_ he was really gay, but he didn't really care about faking it. What really freaked him out was when the Headmaster kissed Ed goodnight. Al and him were still there and there they were kissing! And there was tongue too! Sheesh! Some people.

He opened the door and called out, "I'm home!"

His brother stuck his head out from the kitchen. "Hey, Fletch! Where were you? Out with Al?"

"Yeah, we were on a double date with Ed and the Headmaster. Well, actually me and Al were just pretending but Ed really…." He trailed off, wondering why Russell looked so shocked. It suddenly hit him.

He brought his hands to his mouth, preventing himself from saying anything else.

Russell laughed nervously. "You… You're kidding right? Or did I just hear you wrong?"

Fletcher shook his head and ran from the room. How could he have been so stupid? He let Al down… He heard the front door open and slam shut. What had he done?

-.-.-

"So?" Ed asked excitedly the second they closed the door to their room. "What d'you think?"

"Well," Al started, "There's good news and bad news. Good news first." He paused, almost enjoying making Ed wait. "I'm pretty sure he likes you."

Ed lit up. "Really? You mean it?"

Al nodded.

"YES!" Ed flopped down on his bed, smiling widely. "How do you know?"

"Well, first your 'arguments'? They're more like mini lover's spats. I mean, he insults you, you spaz, he insults you again, you blow up at him… Really I think he just enjoys seeing you so worked up. And truth be told, Ed, I think you like it too, no matter what you say. Next, there was the whole pizza thing. It was almost like he was trying to be not romantic. I mean, I got the impression that Mustang was a really classy guy, and yet he ordered pizza? I think he was doing that so you would think he didn't like you. And finally, the thing that really made it obvious was during the movie when he put his arm around you.

Ed blushed. "You saw that?"

"Yeah, and it looked _really_ genuine. He likes you."

Ed lay there smiling, and then sat up with a worried look on his face. "Oh, but what about the bad news?"

"…I don't think he knows he likes you."

"…What?"

"I think… he's in denial. He likes you, but won't admit it to himself."

Edward got a determined gleam in his eye. "Well, then I'll _make_ him realize!"

Al laughed.

"You know what, Al? I'm gonna go stargaze!"

Al looked at him curiously. "Why?"

Ed shrugged and grinned. "I feel like it."

Al looked at his watch. "Alright, but be back before ten."

Edward now lay on the grass, goggling at the sheer amount of stars. He hadn't done this in so long, he had forgotten what it was like. He immediately spotted Ursa Major and from there found Polaris. The star that always pointed north, no matter what.

Roy really liked him. Al had said so, and so it was definite. He sighed pleasantly and breathed in the night air. Even if Roy had teased him mercilessly, this day had definitely been worth it. It was as close to perfect as Ed was going to get.

He heard running footsteps and sat up, looking for the source. Someone was running on the sidewalk. It took a couple of seconds for him to come close enough for Ed to see his face, and when he did Ed was shocked.

"Russell? What are you doing here?"

Russ panted for a second, catching his breath.

"Russ, did you run all the way here?" Ed said, slightly alarmed.

Russ nodded, still struggling to breathe.

"Wha!" Ed jumped to his feet. "Are you ok? Did something happen? Do you want me to go get you some water?" He was just about to do so, when Russell caught hold of his sleeve.

"No…" he panted. "I'm fine…" After a few more seconds he said, "Ed… you'd tell me if something were happening, right? You wouldn't lie to me, right?"

He wasn't talking about- No he couldn't possibly know about Roy and him. It was probably something else, no sense in worrying. "Of course, Russ," he said slowly. "What's this all about?"

Russ gave him a pained look. "You positive? If there were something important, you wouldn't hide it from me?"

Oh god, _please_ don't let him know about us. He wanted to just tell Russ so badly, but… Al made him promise… "No…"

Russ quickly looked away from Edward. "Ed…" he paused. "Where were you tonight?"

Ed was silent.

"…I see. So it's true."

He cringed.

"You really are… dating the headmaster."

"Russ I'm _sorry_… I wanted to tell you, it's just that Al told me-"

"Al told you?" Russell's voice was getting louder. Angrier. "_Al told you_? I'm supposed to be your fucking best friend, not Al! What was his reason, that I'd be hurt? That I'd be so sad to see you with someone else, so it was better to just lie to me and say nothing was happening? Christ! I thought you'd been acting weird lately, it's great to finally know why!"  
Ed tried to reach out to Russ, to comfort him, to explain to him-

Russell pushed his arm away. "No! Don't try to make it all better with your words! I don't need more lies, Edward. I need the fucking truth. So tell, me, Ed, how long has this been going on? When did this all start?"

When Ed didn't answer right away, Russ yelled angrily, "When!"

"…Almost two months… But Russ, I-"

"Do you love him?"

"Russ-"

"Answer the question!"

Edward nodded reluctantly. "Yeah…" This wasn't supposed to happen, he wasn't supposed to hurt Russ like this. He was his best friend!

"One more question."

"Please, Russell, just let me-"

"One more! Then you can go back to your dreams about your _boyfriend." _He spat the word. "Is he really that much better than me?"

Ed's eyes filled with tears.

"Can he really win your heart so _fucking easily?_ I have spent five years, no, my whole life trying to get you to fall in love with you, and he just… He just waltzes in here and you love him… Just like that… Why? Am I really… just that easy to push aside? Am I… nothing? Am I really just… that terrible? And… it wouldn't have been so painful if you… if you had just _told_ me…"

He couldn't hold it anymore. Tears poured down Edward's cheeks and he choked on a sob.

Russell laughed bitterly. "You're crying? _You're_ crying? I… I'm the one who should be crying." Russ took one last look at the pathetic sight of Edward and walked away.

Edward crumpled to the ground and let the tears flow.

-TBC-

Holy shit. 6619 words. That's the most I have ever written in one chapter. I'm stunned. I guess I truly am just amazing –wink- And SINCE I worked my butt off, you all BETTER review!  
So… comments on this chapter. I can't believe I wrote Al's POV so LONG! I really didn't mean to! It just sort of… happened. The date was also unexpected- I really didn't have much planned for that, just that it would happen. –sweatdrop- AND hey! I got the Philosopher's Stone in there! XD

And then… I ruined Russell's life. ;; I didn't want to… Ok, I did. I'm sick and twisted and I really wanted to write some angst. But… poor Russ. –tear- I know what he's going through… A similar, but not quite as bad, thing happened to me once… -sigh- I'm sorry Russ!

REVIEW! And since you all responded better to the threatening than the pleading, I'm going to have to be mean. Sorry At least… um… More than chapter five! That was what, seventy-some? So please! REVIEW!


	8. Russell

I know, you're shocked, right? Rayne-kun actually updated? Impossible! I wonder how many of you will read this… 5? 10? I'm sorry guys, school's been tough, and… I've been lazy. And uninspired. But I wrote it! I did! So, I humbly apologize and hope you all will forgive me in time. Oh, and don't get too excited by the new M rating, things just get slightly heated with Russ and Envy. Sorry, no Roy/Ed smex for you! Well, not yet anyway! Yeah, yeah, you heard me right, now get readin':)

Chapter Eight: Russell

Alright, so it probably wasn't the best idea to call up Envy so soon after talking to Ed. But when you've just found out that the boy you've been in love with since longer than you can remember had been lying to you for months and that he's fucking the _Headmaster_, you sort of lose all sense of reason. Russell had cried when he reached his bed, and after a good, long session of sobbing into his pillow, began to think of Envy. Going out with him could take his mind off of this whole thing, and he _had_ promised himself that if Ed rejected him again he would focus on the green-haired boy. And not just another one-nighter- a real relationship this time. It would be his first one…

He went to his laptop, looked up Envy's number, composed himself enough to talk, and punched it into his phone. A little too late, he realized it was past nine and it was possible that someone there could be trying to sleep. A bored voice answered the phone.

"Hello?"

"Um, hi," Russell said nervously, "Is Envy there?"

The person on the phone sighed and called out, "Hey Fag! It's some boy for you!"

Russ heard a distant shout, "Wrath, you call me that again and I'm gonna fucking kill you!"

"No you're not, you know Lust would be pissed."

"Well, she's not here now is she?"

Russell heard a slight yelp and Envy took the phone.

"'Lo?"

He suddenly reddened at hearing Envy's voice. "Uh, hi, this is Russell. I know you probably don't remember me, and you're probably wondering how I got your number, and I'm probably really freaking you out, and I'm really sorry, and-"

"Whoa, whoa, hold on. Calm down. Take a breath."

Russell did as he was told.

"Better?"

Russell nodded, realized Envy couldn't see him, and said, "Yeah."

"I remember you just fine, Mr. Out-And-Proud, I assume you got my number from the phone book or the internet, and you're not freaking me out in the slightest. So, let's start over. Hi, Russell, what's up?"

Russell grinned. He did remember him after all! Now, the problem of actually asking him out… "Um, not much… How are you? Did I interrupt anything?"

"Not really, I was just practicing for drama class."

"Oh, you're in drama?" Russ asked, grateful for a topic of conversation, "Do you like it?"

"I love it! I know I probably sound a little strange saying this, but I just love being someone else, wearing someone else's face… In class now, we're just doing short pieces and I'm this priest named Brother Gillard who is hell-bent on not letting these two lovers get together. Sometimes, playing the bag guy can be really cool! Oh," he said suddenly, "I must sound pretty stupid, going on like that… What do you like?"

"No! It doesn't sound stupid at all! I think it's great you can have a passion like that. And me? I don't really have a passion as intense as yours, but, um, I like writing a lot…"

"Writing? What do you write?"

"Um, I like writing scripts for plays, actually…"

Envy laughed. "That's great! You write plays and I act! We're perfect for each other!"

Russell laughed along nervously. Was Envy hitting on him? Oh, he hoped to God he was. "Can I read them sometime?"

"Well, I don't know, I've never let anyone see them before, but maybe…"

"Yeah, that'd be cool."

There was a slightly awkward silence and Russ tried to bring up a new topic. "So, your brother seemed like a bit of an ass."

"Yeah, I really wanna kill that kid sometimes. He's just a stupid freshman."

"Ah, don't say that. Some freshmen I know are pretty cool. You're generalizing."

"Yeah, I suppose I am… Well, he's a moron anyway. When he found out I was bi, all he could say was how disgusting I was."

Russ smiled. "That's funny, 'cause my little brother kept telling me how proud he was of me for finding myself when I told him."

Envy laughed, "Hey, you wanna trade?"

"Not particularly"

"Hey," Envy said abruptly, "Do you want to come to my place? You know, to hang out, or something?"

Russell tried not to sound too excited in his response. "Yeah," he said calmly, "that'd be cool. Like, around when?"

"I know this is a little sudden, but how about tomorrow? It's a Saturday, so we'll have plenty of time to… get to know each other,"

Hell yes. "Sure, that sounds great."

"Well, I assume you can find my address from the source you found my number, right?"

"Yeah."

"Well, then… See you at around three."

Russell heard a click. Three. Perfect. Just enough time to get to know the boy more, and then they could start having fun. He would drive Ed out of his thoughts. For good.

/-\

The next day it took him nearly an hour to figure out what to wear. It had to be perfect; he couldn't screw it up by wearing the wrong outfit. He rummaged through his closet, trying on different shirts with different pants until he finally came up with what he deemed suitable attire.

Just as he was grabbing the keys to the car, the phone rang. He was closest and still had a good ten minutes before he really had to go, so he picked it up and held it to his ear.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Russell, please just listen to-"

He hung up without changing his expression of cold indifference.

"Russell?" A tenor voice called down the stairs.

He looked up to see Fletcher looking down at him nervously. "What?"

"Who was it, on the phone?"

"Just a telemarketer."

Fletcher noticed the keys in his hand and said, "You're not thinking of driving, are you? You know you don't have your license yet and-"

"Fletcher, shut up."

The younger brother gulped. "You're not… you're not mad at me are you?"

Russell glared and exited, then opened to door to his father's car. Technically, he shouldn't have been driving as he only had his permit (Driver's Ed was not his best course in the world), but how lame would it look to Envy if one of his parents drove him there? So he decided to risk it.

It took him about twenty minutes to get to Envy's house (for any decent driver it would have been fifteen). After checking the number of the house, he pulled into the driveway, parked in front of the garage, and stepped out of the car. It was a modest little house with peeling white paint. A small path led to the front (and, as far as he could tell, the only) door and there was a tiny but well-kept flower garden next to it. As he was ringing the doorbell, he heard a faint, gravelly noise from behind him. Figuring it was probably just the wind, he kept waiting for someone to let him in.

He noticed his palms were sweating oceans and quickly wiped them off on his pants, then messed with his hair a little. If it weren't for the possibility that Envy could open the door any second, he would have pulled out a mirror for a quick check.

The noise he had heard started to get a little louder, and just as Envy's front door opened he turned around to figure out what it was. It was then that he saw his father's prized red Prius rolling down the driveway and heading into the middle of Centra Street. Exactly where an SUV was conveniently heading for.

Russell looked on in complete horror. A million scenes played out in his mind, all involving the complete and utter destruction of his father's car. He shut his eyes at the very last second, expecting to hear an earsplitting crash. Instead, he heard a screech, and then nothing.

"Um, Russell?" a voice behind him said.

Russ opened his eyes and saw the SUV stopped inches from hitting his car. He nearly cried in relief. "Yes?" he replied turning around to see long green hair and an expression of complete shock.

"Did you… forget to put it in park?"

Russell paused and thought about it for a second. "Yeah," he said, "I think I did forget."

And Envy laughed. Russell joined in, how could he not?

Someone slammed the door of the SUV and walked out toward them.

Envy stopped laughing, startled. "_Professor Archer_?"

Russell turned around and saw the man as well. It was always so weird seeing teachers outside of school. Well, he knew they had normal lives just like everybody else, but sometimes it was easy to forget. He looked like he was out for blood, preferably that of two certain teenage boys. Russ had never particularly liked Professor Archer; he could swear the man had a twelve-inch rod rammed up his ass. Nevertheless, his car had nearly hit the man's.

"Professor Archer, I am so, sorry! But, no harm done, right? The cars didn't touch and I promise to be more careful. I guess I'll just go-"

"You're not going anywhere until you explain to me why that car nearly crashed into mine."

"I, well, um, was careless, sir. I promise not to be in the future!"

Archer glared down at him. "Five Saturday detentions," he spat, "for your attempt on destroying my vehicle. You start next week."

He stared, mouth open, gaping in shock. But they weren't in school!

"But, Professor Archer," Envy came to his rescue, "he didn't do it on purpose! We didn't even know that was you, and-"

"You'll be joining him then. He's lucky he's just getting away with detention. This should be suspension or perhaps even expulsion, but I guess I'm in a nice mood today." Archer grinned and started back to his car.

They stood in silence until he had driven off.

"That was a great way to start off a date…" Russell muttered.

Envy looked at him and started laughing. It was almost melodic, the way he laughed. It sort of sounded like Edward's… He shook his head to clear himself of those thoughts.

"Go put your car back in the driveway and this time remember to put it in park, ok?" Russell did so and they walked inside the house together.

It was very… Well, it looked like a bachelor pad. There were clothes thrown in the most random places, school work was spread all over the dining room table where dishes from lunch also still sat, and there were food wrappers _everywhere_. A man with short dark hair was sitting on the couch watching football and a short boy with long, messy black hair was trying to wrestle the remote away from him. The boy paused his actions and glanced over at Russell and sneered.

"That your new faggy friend?"

Envy tensed next to him. "Wrath you say that word one more time…"

"Why? You are both faggots, aren't you?" Wrath sneered at them.

"Now now," the man said, not looking away from the TV. "Don't say that kind of thing, Wrath. You know he can't help liking cock."

Russell noticed Envy's fists clench and wondered what he would have done had Russ not been present. Envy took a breath and said calmly, "I apologize for the bigotry of my brothers. Do you want some food or something before we get the hell away from them?"

Russell shook his head. "I'm good."

"Well, personally, I could go for some chocolate. You like milk chocolate?"

"Um, I'm lactose intolerant and I didn't take my pill today…"

"Dark then." Envy ran in and took said chocolate from the kitchen and quickly led Russ upstairs. For some bizarre reason, it seemed Envy didn't like to be around his brothers. Fancy that.

Russell entered the room and sat down on Envy's bed, letting his legs dangle. The room was very much that of a teenage boys. Not that his or the Elrics' rooms were anything like this; Russ couldn't stand mess in his room and Al always insisted on making the brothers' room immaculate, despite his brother's protesting. But every other teenage boy he knew had a bedroom just like this- a complete disaster. Well, not a _complete_ disaster. It did look as if Envy had tried to tidy up, but he must not have been very good at it. At least all the clothes were close to the hamper.

The wallpaper was dark and even with the light on made the room seem a little black. Posters of bands he had never even heard of lined the walls, and CDs just seemed to grow out of the floor they were that abundant. The stereo in the corner of the room seemed to take up about 5 square feet.

"Not one for iPods or MP3 players?"

"Not really," Envy said, taking a seat on a miraculously clean chair across from him. "For one thing- way too expensive. And for another, they're just… Well, it's like there's not any soul in them, you know? Too much technology these days."

He would have sounded like an old man had it not been CD versus MP3 they were talking about.

Envy unwrapped the chocolate bar he had taken and took a bite. "Here," he said, ripping off a piece and tossing it to Russell who fumbled it. It almost hit the floor when a foot sprang out and balanced it on it's back. Envy then kicked it up and caught the flying chocolate.

Russell was gaping. "That was amazing! How did you do that?"

Envy shrugged. "I've always had pretty fast reflexes."

"Yeah, but you caught it with your foot! Even Edward couldn't…" He trailed off. He nearly kicked himself. Was it really that hard to stop thinking about him?

Envy raised an eyebrow. He put down the chocolate bar, stood up and sat down cross-legged on the end of the bed next to Russell, handing him the piece of candy that had nearly fell to its doom. "Who's Edward?"

Russell looked away. "He's a friend…"

"What'd he do to you?"

Russell turned back to Envy, surprised. "What makes you think he did something to me?"

"You made a face."

Russell looked down again.

"Hey, if you don't wanna talk about it, that's cool. I was just wondering what he did to make you so sad. Should I smack him one? Or maybe ten?"

Russell laughed a little. "No, that's ok. He'd probably smack you back. Can we talk about it some other time maybe?"

The green-haired boy nodded. "Sure, whatever. So, onto better topics, what compelled you to call me out of the blue?"

He reddened. "Well…"

Envy smirked, "You're blushing," he pointed out matter-of-factly.

That only succeeded in making Russell redder. "Am not!"

"Yes you are."

"I just… I just wanted to talk to you, you know? When we talked that one time… You seemed…" Dangerous. Sexy. Like Edward somehow. "Interesting." He ate the chocolate that hand been handed to him.

"I see," he said, smirking. "Well you know what? You seemed interesting too."

Russ's heart skipped a beat. "Oh?" he said, attempting to act indifferent.

"You know, at my old school there wasn't anyone that was 'Out and Proud'. Not even me. I was too scared. Not of getting beat up or anything, I could take anyone that tried, easy. No, I was scared of getting kicked out of the musical. Sounds stupid, but I really care about drama, you know? It's kinda like an escape or something… And the director- well he was a real homophobic dickwad, and I just couldn't take the chance. Our school hadn't done a musical in ages, and I was the lead, right? I really didn't want to fuck it all up by telling the world I like guys just as much, well, maybe a little more than I like girls.

"So I didn't say anything. And once the musical was over, I still didn't say anything. I mean, there would be other plays, other musicals, and I didn't want my chances ruined before I even tried out. Of course, kids suspected, hence my being expelled in senior year and sent to school here. Hell, the only reason I'm at this prestigious place is because Lust wanted me to stay in school. I think she threatened Greed with some blackmail I'm sure she has on him and he's paying for me. At first, I was totally against it. I mean, who wants to go to some private school, right? But seeing you in your shirt…" he smiled. "Well, I thought it was really brave, you know?"

Russell was beet red. "It wasn't that… brave or anything. There are plenty of other out kids… I know some in the GSA…"

Puzzled, Envy asked, "GSA?"

"Gay-Straight Alliance. I'm the president. But anyway, there's Joan and Beth and Amanda…"

"Sounds like it's only girls."

He thought for a second. "Yeah, I guess so… but it's still brave for them, you know."

Shaking his head, Envy said, "Not as hard as for guys. When a girl comes out, no one is gonna hit her or call her a faggot."

"No, but they could still tell her she's disgusting or stop being friends with her, or call her a dyke."

"You know, you can argue that all you like, but I still think you're brave."

Embarrassed, he turned away from Envy. "But you're brave too… I mean, come on, your hair is _green_. And that one day, you were listening to music during Falman's class."

Raising an eyebrow, Envy said, "That's hardly bravery. That's just me getting bored and doing something about it. But this is stupid. You're brave, get over it. Ok?"

"If you say so."

"I do. And you know what else I think?" He moved a little closer to Russell. "I think you're kinda cute."

Russell looked into Envy's purple eyes and wondered dazedly if they were colored contacts or not. Probably, he thought as Envy's face came closer to his own. Purple wasn't usually a color one sees in normal eyes…

And then Envy's lips were touching his and the purple eyes, along with his own, were closed. It tasted like the chocolate, dark and rich and creamy. It was slow at first, tender. Their tongues gently swirled around one another's, playing affectionately for a little while, until Envy pulled away.

"That was nice," Russell said softly, gazing into purple.

"Nice, huh?" Envy murmured, somewhat to himself. "How 'bout I show you amazing?"

Russell blinked and was pushed backwards so that he was lying down on Envy's bed. Envy climbed on top of him, almost completely pinning him down. He brought his mouth down on Russell's once again, but this kiss was no longer sweet and gentle. This kiss was hard and rough and fast, and Russell had to struggle to get any sort of breath in. It was hot. In every sense of the word.

He felt a hand beneath his shirt and groaned at the touch. Envy's hand swirled around his navel, making Russ giggle a little into their kiss.

"Stop, it tickles," he protested as Envy continued dancing his fingers around the spot.

Envy smirked. "I'll remember that for next time, but for now…"

Envy's hand continued in it's upwards path until it reached Russell's nipples and began to circle them until they became hard. Envy pulled away from Russell's mouth, and Russell might have complained had Envy not began to lick and suck at his neck. Russell hated the thought that he'd have to hide the marks later, but he wasn't about to ask Envy to stop. His tongue then trailed a path up to the blond's ear and nibbled on the lobe a little. Russ felt the other boy begin to unbutton his shirt, but seemed to having no small trouble with it.

"Dammit," Envy cursed and sat up a little so he could properly unfasten the buttons. When he finally got them all, he began to attack Russell's chest with his mouth, first the ribs, then licking his way up to the nipples. He sucked and licked them with fervor, and Russell groaned appreciatively.

And then Envy's hand moved down in between his legs. Russell's already half-hard cock promptly sprang to attention, and he moaned lowly at the touch.

Envy stopped licking and looked up at Russell with questioning eyes. Russ nodded. Envy's mouth resumed its previous actions and he continued to grip Russell's cock through his pants. Russell groaned again, and realized he definitely should have worn looser pants. Envy had just started to fumble with the button on Russell's jeans when the door burst open.

"Envy, Lust wants to talk to-" Wrath stopped. Of course, the two had jumped apart when they had heard the noise, but the boy wasn't stupid. Russell's shirt was still unbuttoned and the two were sitting on the bed, both looking thoroughly flushed and Russell was panting slightly. "Were you two just…" He made a face. "Ugh," he tossed the phone inside and said, "If you're gonna do that stuff at least lock the door." He closed the door mumbling something that sounded like, "Fucking faggots…."

There was silence, as the two tried to get their breath back and pretend that hadn't just happened. Envy stood up and retrieved the phone from the floor and held it to his ear.

"Lust, will you teach that boy to knock sometime?" He held a finger up as if to say "One second", smiled warmly at him and left the room.

Russell rebuttoned his shirt and lay down on the bed and grinned. He hadn't expecting things to move that quickly. Not that he was complaining, mind you. No, he certainly hadn't minded all that. Not one bit.

-.-.-

Edward stared blankly at the screen of the computer. Computer Programming was usually such an interesting class, but today he simply couldn't bring himself to focus. Russell hadn't even looked at him since it happened. Not a glance, or even a glare was sent his way. Nor were there any words from the taller boy. Ed had tried calling, but Russ had simply hung up.

He knew he had been a jerk. He should have told Russell, regardless of what Al had said. It wasn't right to keep secrets like that from your best friend, especially one like Russell. When he had came back inside and Al had asked what happened, at first he was pissed at Al for telling him not to tell. Al explained that he was going to tell Ed that it was ok to tell him now that he was sure Roy loved Ed back, but he just hadn't felt the need to say it right away. He had no idea that Russ would run practically a mile and a half to confront Edward about his relationship. And Ed understood. Ed knew Al would never intentionally ruin his friendship, and this wasn't his fault.

No, the blame rested entirely on Edward. When Russell had asked, he should have told the truth. He shouldn't have had to wait for Al's say-so. He hated himself. He absolutely hated himself. He had broken his best friends heart and trust, and he wasn't sure that there was any way he could get it back. He had known Russell to keep grudges for years, and this wasn't the type of thing he would forget too easily. Russell still hated his fourth grade classmate for stealing his eraser, even though she claimed it was all a set-up.

He had no idea how to fix things, though. What could he say, that he was sorry? Didn't seem to being working too well at the moment. He didn't really have any other solutions, either. He really hated fighting with Russell though. In all their years as friends, they had only fought a couple of times, and it was always over something stupid.

Not this time though. This time it was for real.

And it wasn't even a fight really, since Ed wasn't mad. It was Russell pissed at Ed and Ed not knowing what to do. The only thing he knew for certain was that he had to talk to Russell. He had to try to make him understand that Ed knew what he did was stupid and that he was really sorry.

It made him want to slam his head into the computer for being such an idiot. If only he had just told him! But it was over now. And he had to deal with it. He peeked over the top of his computer to where Russ sat in the next row over, furiously typing on his project. Ed should probably get going on his too, he only had about five lines written.

"Edward?" He felt a soft hand on his shoulder and looked up at Professor Fuery. "You not feeling too inspired today?"

Ed always liked Professor Fuery- he was always just an all-around nice guy, and willing to help you out when you needed it. And he always understood when you were just having a bad day.

"Sorry, Professor, I'll get working."

Fuery smiled down at him and gave him an encouraging pat on the shoulder, then went to help some other students.

Maybe he could write a program that would figure out a way to apologize to Russell. Now that would be something useful.

/-\

Ed saw Winry sitting at a small table in the corner, beckoning him to come sit. He brought his tray piled with food and plopped down into the seat.

Ed scoped the room and spotted him immediately, sitting with that new boy with the green hair, talking, laughing. They seemed to be having a good time, which only served to make Ed more miserable.

Winry noticed where his gaze led. "I'm sure he'll come around, you two never fight for long, right?"

Ed shook his head. "But this isn't like that…"

Winry looked downcast. "Yeah, I know… It's just… Well, he hates me too now, you know? Since I knew about you and Mustang too and didn't tell him. And I… Well, I miss him."

Edward poked at the mandatory peas on his plate with his fork and nodded.

"Ed- Are you gong to break up with the headmaster?"

"No!" Ed said, horrorstricken. Not after all the work he had done to get this far!

"Good, because I was going to tell you that that wouldn't solve anything. But I do think you should talk to him. Russell, I mean. Have you apologized?"

"Of course! But he won't even listen to me anymore."

Green-hair then leaned up and whispered something in Russell's ear, who seemed to look embarrassed and said something back. Well that was certainly interesting.

"Winry, do you know who that new boy is?" Ed said, still staring at the two.

"Uh, he has some weird name like Bitter or Jealous… Envy- that was it! Envy Something-Or-Another."

Ed looked at her quizzically. "Envy? What kind of a name is that?"

She shrugged and took a sip of her Diet Coke. "Who knows? They do seem to be getting close though. It's weird that it happened so soon after, well, you know. I guess Envy's something like a rebound."

"Yeah," Ed agreed, watching the two. Envy seemed to be making Russell listen to some song with his bulky headphones. "How can I possibly apologize to him if he won't talk to me?"

"Why don't you do it now, when he can't run away?"

After thinking about it for a second, Ed said, "Sure, why not? What have I got to lose?" He stood up and walked right over to the two boys' table in the opposite corner of the room. Russell looked up to see who it was and glared, then turned back to Envy.

The green-haired boy looked up and said, "So, Russ, who's the shrimp?"

A vain right above Ed's left eye twitched as he struggled not to burst out in obscenities. "I was about to say the same to you. You seem awfully short for a goth kid. Aren't you guys supposed to be tall, dark and creepy?"

Envy narrowed his eyes. "Let's get this straight, pipsqueak. You label me again and you're dead, got it?"

"Whatever. I'm not here to pick a fight with you, Mr. Green-Hair. I came," Ed said, directing his attention to the blond, "to talk to you."

Russell sent him an icy stare. "I have nothing to say to you."

Ed's voice became pleading. "Russ, please, you have no idea how sorry I am. I really-"

"Save it," Russell interrupted. "I told you, Edward, I'm not interested in your lies."

"Ohh," Envy cut in, "so _this_ is your Edward." He stood up, probably so he could be taller, and looked down at the golden-eyed boy. "Look, kid, I don't know exactly what you did to Russell, here, but I can say this. You're a right bastard, and I think you should leave us alone. Preferably now."

"I just need to talk to Russell," he said, lowering his voice. Some of the other kids were starting to stare. "Please, can you just let me-"

"Envy," Russ said suddenly. "Sit down, let me handle this." Envy sat, and Russell stood. "Edward, what do you want from me, to forgive you? This isn't some kids movie, everything isn't going to work out in the end. You hurt me. And I'm not going to let it go. Now, go back to Winry and tell her all about your Friday adventure with the headmaster."

"Russ-"

"I said," Russell spat, "Leave."

He was given no choice. Edward sat back down next to Winry.

"Didn't go too well, did it."

It wasn't a question, so he didn't answer. Just sat there, staring out into the snow-covered outdoors.

/-\

Ed pulled away from the kiss and buried his face in the crook of Roy's neck, letting Roy play with his hair.

"What's wrong?" Roy asked.

Ed shook his head. "Nothing's wrong," he said into Roy's neck.

"Really," Roy said dryly.

"Yes."

"You've been acting strangely."

"No I haven't," Ed said, turning around in Roy's lap so that his back was to the man's.

"Yes you have," Roy insisted. "You've been quiet for one thing. Not that it isn't welcome, mind you, but it is a little eerie."

"I see."

"See? That's weird. Normally you would have yelled at me for suggesting that you talk too much, which would end up somehow relating to your height."

Ed sighed. Had it been another day he would have been touched that Roy seemed to actually care. "It's just… Have I ever mentioned a friend named Russell?"

"Mmm," Roy thought for a second. "Oh, that boy with a crush on you? Yeah, once maybe."

"Well, he found out about us."

Roy shifted a little. "Ah."

"Yeah. And he got pissed that I hadn't told him."

"Well, you have to tell as few people as possible. I'd like to keep my job, thanks."

Ed froze. He hadn't thought of that. What if Russell said something to the police about their relationship? He probably hated Ed enough now to do that, and it's not like he cared what happened to Roy. "Oh God, I have to talk to him. But he won't listen to me…"

"Have you tried?" Roy said, growing a little frantic.

"Of course! But he and his new boyfriend kindly suggested that I get the hell away from them."

"Well don't take no for an answer. He's mad you didn't tell him, right? Just tell him that you couldn't tell him because no one is supposed to know. I'm sure he'll understand. You teenagers don't hold grudges, right?"

Ed turned around and gave him a look. "One, three people besides him know, so he thinks I should have told him too. Two, he refuses to even speak to me, he's not just gonna forgive me with open arms, and three- Are you stupid, or just generalizing?"

Roy gently lifted him and placed him next to him on the couch. Sometimes it irritated him that Roy could lift him so easily. Other times it didn't. Roy stood up and started walking around slowly. It was a habit of Roy's, it seemed, to pace whenever there was a question that needed answering. And then, after walking back and forth for a little, he would sit in his desk and put his hands to his forehead and just think. Sure enough, after a little while, he strode over to his desk and did just that.

After a couple a minutes, Ed grew impatient. "Roy, have you thought of anything yet? Russ can be really impulsive sometimes, and once he thinks about this, he might do it!"

"Well, I don't see you coming up with any great ideas!" Roy snapped. He rubbed his forehead and muttered, "Hughes was right- what the hell am I doing?" but didn't move.

Ed understood why Roy was freaking out about this. If Russell decided to say something, it would not only be the end of his career- it would probably be the end of his life. Even though they had never really had sex, the media would blow things way out of proportion. Roy would undoubtedly get fired, maybe even end up in jail for a few years, and he'd be forever known as The Man Who Fucked His Male Student.

God, the world sucked.

-.-.-

Russell walked down the hallways towards the bench where Envy said he's wait for him. He had asked if Envy wanted to come to the GSA with him, but Envy said clubs weren't his thing. But he did say he'd wait for him to give him a ride! Envy was just always so nice to him! He really had a good thing going with the green-haired boy, not anything like wasting away, pining for Edward. No, this was far better.

"Hey," he greeted warmly as he spotted the boy. "Thanks for waiting, you didn't have to."

Envy shook his head. "Well I wanted to." He shifted a little in his seat and said, "Hey, sit down. I need to talk to you for a second."

"Sure," he replied and sat down next to the other boy.

"Listen, 'cause this is really hard for me to say." Oh no, he wasn't going to break up with him, was he? Already? "You love Edward, don't you?"

"No!" he denied immediately, but when Envy sent him a look, he revised, "Well, not anymore." After another look, he settled with, "Just a little. But, listen, I don't need him anymore. I'm happy with you, I really am!"

"What did he do to you? Please, I need you to tell me this time."

"Well…" Russ looked away and took a breath. "It's kinda complicated… Basically, I really liked him and he knew it, and then he blew me off for someone else and didn't tell me about it."

"And now you're mad." Envy put his feet on the bench and rested his head of his bent knees. "Russell, I know I move faster than some other boys, but that doesn't mean I don't want a real relationship. I'm not willing to be someone's rebound."

"Envy, you're not my-"

"God, this sucks," Envy said more to himself than to Russ. "And here I thought this was all going to work out…"

"It will! It is! Ed's a thing of the past, really! Please don't," his voice died a little. "Please don't leave me…"

"Russ," Envy put his legs down and put his hand on Russ's cheek, forcing him to look at him. "I'm not leaving. But until you forgive Ed, you'll never even partially get over him. I'm sorry."

Russell's eyes darkened. "You want me to forgive him? After what he did to me?"

"I don't mean be his best friend, just tell him you accept his apology. When he came to you at lunch, he really did seem sorry, Russ."

Russell scowled and looked down. "I thought you hated him too, why are you taking his side?"

"I'm not taking his side, Russell, I just don't want to be with you while you're constantly thinking of him. Hey, do you still want a ride home?"

"I'll take the bus," Russell said and walked away.

/-\

Russell chewed on his eraser lightly. Why was everyone against him? Envy, Ed, Al, Winry, even Fletcher was on Edward's side! Why?

Edward was clearly the one at fault here! Ed led him on for all those years, then turned around and starting fucking some guy twenty years older than him, and didn't even tell him! It didn't seem like there was any reason to forgive him, so how could everyone else do it so easily? And why had he told all of them and not him? Did Al think he couldn't handle knowing that his Ed had finally found someone? It was all so ridiculous!

Sceizka was saying something about the symbolism of the red bird, but Russ couldn't be bothered at the moment. He hadn't even read the story last night.

Edward… He remembered Ed's face at the lunch table when he had told him to leave. He looked so sad, so… disappointed. And when he had gone back to Winry she had looked over at him and shook her head sadly. Why? Why was everyone blaming him? Ed was the bad guy here! It's not like he had done anything wrong!

But… Al had told Ed not to. And Ed always did what Al told him regarding relationships. Hell, so did Russell. When Al said something, he was usually right… And they were brothers. Ed had given his arm for Al once; he would do anything for the boy. It was no surprise that Ed hadn't told him about the headmaster if Al had specifically said not to.

But Al shouldn't have said so in the first place! He could have handled the news!

Well… If Ed had told him that he was dating a guy… He would have felt rejected. He _did_ feel rejected. Ed loved someone else. He was just a friend to Ed and that's how it would always be. Ed wasn't going to suddenly fall for him like he had always thought he would. Well, hoped. And if Ed had just told him all that… It would have hurt him. A lot. Al probably wanted to make sure it was real before ruining his life.

And Ed hadn't led him on with the asexual thing, he just hadn't found the right person yet! And Russell… just wasn't it. He wasn't the guy for Edward.

God… he had been being such a jerk to Ed! And Al, and Winry. Even Fletch! Oh, and he had been so stupid to walk out on Envy like that! Envy really cared about Russ and he just left him without any second thoughts.

"I'm such an idiot," he muttered softly.

"Yes, Tringham? Do you have something to add?" Sceizka asked.

"Oh, uh, nothing. Sorry, Professor."

He had to fix all this. Before it was all too late.

TBC

There. I'm done. HAH. And it was long too! I wasn't expecting it to be long! Well, w/e. What do you all think? Ok? Hey, it's longer than Chapter Seven! W00t! Anyways, please review. If you don't I might just abandon the story. A writer unencouraged becomes a hollow shell. So, if you notice there aren't a lot of reviews up for this chapter, send another one without your account! Just keep using fake names and saying different things! Or you can say the same thing- I don't care! Please? I'm pretty desperate here. I'm actually very scared that you've all left me… I know it was a long time… But I promise it won't happen again! No longer than 4 months! (Joke. Don't panic.) I'll try to update by the end of January, but there are finals, so I can't promise that, But please, please, please, please send a review. I do love this story, and it would be a pity to ditch it. Thanks guys, and I'm sorry again.


	9. NOTE

NOTE:

This is a temporary note for the purpose of notifying people about the last chapter. Most have probably noticed that the author alert function was not working. When I put up, chapter eight, I was not aware of this. So, this is just a note to let all those who didn't receive the alert that CHAPTER EIGHT IT UP:)

Thanks all, and please review the previous chapter!

Rayne-kun


	10. I am so sorry

This is not Rayne-Kun.

That's right. This isn't Rayne-Kun. Rather, this is M. Just M. I have come to deliver a message. Oh, but don't worry, it's not bad. Not bad at all. Just a small announcement.

Well, let me tell you a story before the announcement.

This is the story of a very lazy author, who was SUPPOSED to write her next chapter a month ago, but never got around to it. The lazy author didn't want to leave her readers hanging, but was too lazy to do anything about writing it. And so, the lazy author decided to find someone persuadable enough to write a filler chapter. That person happened to be the lazy author's friend. And so, while the lazy author's friend writes filler for the lazy author's readers, the lazy author shall write another chapter.

Touching story, isn't it? Well, as you bright, brilliant people have probably figured out, I'm the lazy author's friend. And the lazy author, Rayne-kun.

And so, while I pester RK to write her chapter, I leave you people with a filler chapter, written by myself.

Thank you.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Before I begin this story, I shall let you know one thing; in this filler, there shall be NO drugs, and absolutely NO TEENAGE SEX! That's right. You're going to read a fluffy, clean story, and you're going to enjoy it. (Well, there IS one alcohol reference…)

Our story starts on a fine, spring morning. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and everywhere, the world was at peace.

Or at least, I'm sure it was a fine, spring morning somewhere in the world.

Where our story takes place, it was a rainy, gloomy spring afternoon. In fact, it was so rainy at this spot, that the water pipes for the small apartment building located on 487th street burst. Not such great news for the residents. The residents all had to pick up their belongings and find other lodgings while the apartment building maintainers tried getting some sort of help.

Our story focuses on one particular resident, who lived in the small apartment building located on 487th street. He went by the name of Edward Elric, and he lived in room 443; 4th floor, 43rd room. He was a simple man; short in statue, but great in mind (though no one dared call him short to his face). Edward lived a simple, unimportant life. He spent his days working at a small factory down a couple blocks as an engineer. Edward was an ordinary man; he enjoyed watching football with his work friends on Sundays, and liked eating out with his brother.

Maybe it was fate. Maybe it was chance. Maybe it was those three beers Edward had downed earlier that evening. It was probably those beers. Tricky things. Anyhow, in an attempt to salvage items from his flooded apartment, Edward had ventured back into the evacuated building.

And into the wrong room.

Oh, but he didn't know this at the time. At the time, he was MUCH too preoccupied with finding his treasured family photo book. So Edward began to loot though stacks and stacks of papers, books, everything and anything, really. Although in his current, drunken state of mind, Edward couldn't really focus.

In a strange twist of fate, Edward wound up finding a photo book, and at the moment, being too drunk to notice, walked off with someone else's photo book.

Out of the wrong apartment walked Edward; out the door and into a tall, dark-haired man, to whom the apartment belonged to.

Needless to say, the tall, dark-haired man wasn't too happy to find a stranger wandering around his apartment.

Though Edward (who couldn't really think clearly) thought he was in his own apartment.

And thus, the two began to argue.

"I'm sorry, but what the fuck are you doing in my apartment?" the tall, dark-haired man asked politely.

"Whall, I could ask you the saaaaaame thing, Mr…..mr…..mr….tall, dark and stupid apartment person!" Edward slurred.

The tall, dark-haired man ran a hand through his dark hair. "Ok. It's raining out side. The apartment building is flooded. All I want to do is grab my paperwork, pack a bag for a hotel, and get out of here. So would you KINDLEY leave my apartment!?!"

Not waiting for an answer, the tall, dark-haired man pushed Edward out of the apartment, and in to the hallway.

"Whaaaait, ya jerk! Yew can't juuust push meh out o' my own apaaartment……!" Edward yelled out of drunken passion.

The tall, dark-haired man stuck his head out the doorway. "Oh no? I'm terribly sorry, but I think I just did. And for the record, this is MY apartment, ok? Now leave, please!" And he slammed the door shut.

Edward yelled on about this and that for a bit, before he was tracked down by his brother and gently led down the hallway to the correct room.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

As most drunk people tend to do, Edward awoke the next morning with a splitting headache. Groaning and moaning, he sat up in bed and hollered to no one in particular about nothing in particular.

His brother came in the room with a glass of warm milk, urging Edward to drink.

Sipping the steamy hot beverage, Edward asked, "Aaah, was I drunk last night?"

His brother nodded. "Yeah…and it looks like you've got a pretty bad hangover, too. You know, you really shouldn't do this."

Edward thought for a moment, and the realized that the apartment had flooded last night, and that he probably should have found other lodgings before getting drunk.

Seeing the worried expression on Edwards face, his brother told him, "Oh, you must have remembered the flood! Well, it kind of only affected the first two floors, so they're letting everyone else stay for now. Isn't that great?"

Edward just nodded, and rolled over. Onto something hard. Something hard and square that felt remotely like a book. He rolled back onto the other side of the bed and pulled out the book from under him.

"What's that, brother?"

Edward shook his head. "I'm not sure…it looks like a photo book. But it's got a different cover than our family photo book." He looked to his brother. "Is it a new one?"

"I have no idea. You were holding it when I found you yesterday."

"Found me…?" Edward asked, confused.

"Yeah. You were so drunk, you wandered into some random apartment, and stole a photo book. You really made that guy angry, too…"

Edward sat up again, and began to think out loud. "I guess I'll have to give it back to him. Do you remember what room it was?"

The brother nodded. "Yeah, the one right down the hall and to the left."

Sighing, Edward rolled out of bed. "Well then, I'll go give it to him…hey, will you make sandwiches for lunch?"

Sighing, the brother replied, "No, I'm not going to be home for lunch, remember? I told you two days ago I was going to a 'save the cats' meeting."

"Oh. Ok. I'll just go out. Bye!"

The brother sighed. What an impossible brother! Poor, poor me…

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

The doorbell rang.

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

No answer.

Edward sighed and sat down in the hallway outside the door, the photo book slumped next to him. As expected, the guy had left the apartment building, like any smart citizen would do.

His curiosity getting the better of him, Edward began to look through the photo book.

Not surprising, he didn't recognize any of the people in the book. It was mostly pictures of a tall, dark-haired man, with eyes that seemed to watch everything. Next to him was a smaller, skinny girl, with long black hair. There were pictures of them watching TV, eating together, there was even a picture of the two of them at the beach.

Edward looked at that one for a bit. The girl was pretty enough, but the tall, dark-haired man, HE was easy on the eyes. A slender, muscular build, shirtless in blue swim trunks, Edward was slightly surprised that the guy could captivate his interest for so long.

"I look pretty sexy in that swimsuit, huh?"

Edward jumped at the sound of the voice, and looked up. Standing in front of him was the man from the pictures.

And then it hit Edward.

"Hey, you're the guy who cut in front of me at the McDonald's the other day!"

--Flashback--

Edward had been waiting in line at the McDonald's for nearly twenty minutes, and it was finally his turn.

"Excuse me, could I have a-"

He was cut off when a tall, dark-haired man cut straight in front of him. "Hi, I'd like your bacon double-cheeseburger with small fries and a coke."

Edward had pushed the man aside and glared angrily, spitting, "Hey, I was here first!"

The man turned to look downward, paying for his food, and smirked. "Oh, so sorry…you were so short, I didn't see you."

--End Flashback--

"Yeah, it's definitely you! You pushed me aside and called me so short that you couldn't see me with an atomic microscope! And the worst part," Edward growled, "is that BECAUSE OF YOU, THEY RAN OUT OF BACON DOUBLE-CHEESEBURGERS! And I had to order a bacon regular cheeseburger!"

The tall, dark-haired man raised an eyebrow, and chuckled. "I remember that…it was a darn tasty cheeseburger, too. I'm SO sorry that you didn't get to eat one."

Edward grew even angrier. "SHUT THE HELLUP! WHY SHOULD I CARE IF I DIDN'T GET TO EAT A YUMMY, MELTY, WARM CHEESEBURGER AND IT BEING ALL YOUR FAULT!?!?"

"So are you going to keep yelling at me, or are you actually going to give me my photo book?"

Edward calmed down for a moment, before realizing that he was still holding onto the book. Blushing slightly, he shoved the book into the guy's hands.

"Here. God knows I don't want it…mr…mr…mr…"

"Roy. Just Roy, Edward."

Edward looked up, a shocked expression on his face. "Hey, how did you know my name!?!? Are you a stalker or something…!?"

Roy sighed. "You really ARE an idiot…remember the first day you and your brother moved in? I went over to your apartment to give you wine from the building association."

Edward thought for a moment. "Now that you mention it…"

"See? I recognized you from yesterday, but I thought it would be more fun not to say anything."

Edward glowered, and turned to go, when Roy put a hand on Ed's shoulder.

"Relax, I was just teasing Ed. Actually, I should thank you. Because you were in my apartment yesterday, I didn't get robbed."

Ed spun around. "Robbed?"

"Yeah. With all of yesterday's confusion, there was a robber going into random apartments and just taking stuff. If you hadn't been rummaging through my apartments, he could've taken something important. So as a thank you, I'll buy you a bacon double-cheeseburger."

Ed's eyes lit up. "Really?"

"Yes. But only this one time."

The two walked down the hallway towards the elevator, and Ed nudged Roy in the side. "Sooo, that girl in the photo book was pretty cutie. Is she your…Girlfriend?"

"Idiot. That's my sister."

"WHAT!?"

THE END

And there you have it, Rayne-kun's dear readers. A clean, fluffy filler.

THIS JUST IN:

RK has informed me that she is in fact writing her next chapter. So hopefully, there will be no more need for fillers in the near future.

You hear that, RK? I'm not writing another one. Next time, I want to be paid but for you, I shall cut my rates in half! .25 for a filler!

-M

This is Rayne-kun. Just wanted to say I AM SO SORRY. I will write, I promise! Things have just been REALLY busy, and I have been pretty lazy. But I'll write, I haven't ditched it, promise!


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